A Second Chance at Happiness
by 93 Diagon Alley
Summary: An accident with a Time-Turner causes Hermione to travel back in time 18 years, to the final year of Voldemort's first reign of terror.
1. Introduction

Happy Leap Day!

I know this chapter is short, but it's just the introduction. Actual chapters will be longer. Please review and let me know what you thought, I'd appreciate it :)

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><p><strong>A Second Chance at Happiness<br>**by: 93 Diagon Alley

It was July 20, 1998, and the war had been over for two and a half months already. Hermione Granger was currently living in the Burrow, sharing a room with Ginny, until she was approved for an international portkey to Australia to track down her parents and restore their memories. Since May 2, everything was a mess – while she and the rest of the Wizarding world appreciated the peace, and enjoyed being able to leave their houses without fearing for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, the war had taken a serious toll on its survivors. The Weasley family was heartbroken by the loss of Fred, especially George; there's no words strong enough to describe the pain he was suffering at the loss of his twin. Harry, as usual, felt he was to blame for the deaths of everyone they lost in the final battle, and only taking on the role of godfather to an orphaned Teddy Lupin, and helping Andromeda Tonks raise him, was helping to ease his sorrow and keep his mind occupied. He was struggling through his survivor's guilt, and Hermione didn't expect that to change any time soon. The three of them – Harry, Andromeda, and Teddy - as well as all the surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix, felt the loss of Remus and Tonks deeply. Even if baby Teddy didn't understand the concept of death, he still understood enough to know that his mum and dad were never coming home. Ginny had, aside from her brother, also lost one of her closest friends with the death of Colin Creevey, and was still struggling to come to terms with it. Thankfully, everyone had a family member to support them through their grief – everyone except Hermione, that is. While she was appreciative of all the Weasleys had done for her, and of the relationship she had with them, her _real_ family was half a world away, with no recollection of her existence, making her feel isolated within her adopted magical family.

Despite the joy of finally having a peaceful world, and the relief at winning the war, it could be said that no one in the Wizarding world was truly _happy_.

-oOo-

"Hey Hermione! What's this necklace?" Ron called from the bedroom she was sharing with Ginny at the Burrow.

"What necklace?" she asked, walking into the room carrying a tray of tea.

"This one, the one that looks like an hourglass," he replied, spinning it between his fingers as she approached. "It's kinda neat..."

Hermione's eyes widened in fear as they went to the object in her best friend's fingers, and she dropped the tea tray on the wooden floor. "Ron, no! What are you doing? How long have you been spinning that?"

He shrugged. "Uh, I dunno, a couple minutes, maybe?"

"Oh Merlin," she moaned, snatching the necklace out of his hands. "Do you have any idea what this thing can do? I've never seen what happens when it's spun more than a few times...this is bad. Floo Harry imm-"

And then she was gone.

-oOo-

"HARRY! HARRY COME QUICK! IT'S HERMIONE!"

Harry bolted down the stairs of Grimmauld Place and spotted his best mate's head sitting in his fire. "Hermione? What's happened?"

"She's gone!" Ron wailed. "I was playing with her necklace, spinning it in my fingers, when she yelled at me, snatched it away, and then disappeared in the middle of telling me to contact you!"

Harry blanched. He had an idea of which necklace Ron might be referring to, but sincerely hoped he was mistaken... "What did it look like?"

"I dunno, um, an hourglass. And it was surrounded by two gold circles."

Harry slapped his hand to his forehead. "Ron! That was a Time-Turner! Come on through, we need to floo to Hogwarts."

Ron's head disappeared for a moment, and then he came through the floo into the house Harry had inherited from his late godfather. "A Time-Turner? You mean she went back in time?"

"That's EXACTLY what I mean, Ron." He tossed a little floo powder in the grate, and shouted, "Hogwarts, Headmistress' office!" Less than a minute later, he pulled his head back out of the fireplace, and motioned to Ron to go through the floo.

"Mr. Potter! Mr. Weasley! Whatever is the matter?" Minerva McGonagall cried, once the boys had flooed into her office.

"It's Hermione, Professor. We believe she's gone back in time, but we don't know how far..."

McGonagall's face froze in a look of horror, but Ron started wailing before she could ask anything else. "She's gone! She's gone and it's all my fault!"

"Explain," she demanded, in a stern voice they knew well from their time as her students.

"I found one of her necklaces in her room, and started spinning it around in my hands, not knowing what it was. By the time she came in and saw what I was doing, I had already been spinning it for a few minutes. She grabbed it, and then disappeared. I didn't find out it was a Time-Turner until I got to Harry's." He hung his head in shame once he had finished speaking.

"If I'm not mistaken, Minerva," Albus Dumbledore's portrait spoke up from behind her desk, "she's gone back to 1980."

"1980!" she exclaimed. "Well, Mr. Weasley," she replied, "I'm sure you're capable of figuring out the consequences of your actions. You _may_ see Miss Granger again, but it's extremely likely that she'll be about 18 years older than you, and living under an assumed name. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens..."

Harry and Ron both groaned, and put their faces in their hands.

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><p>Posted: 29 February 2012<br>Word Count: 947


	2. Chapter 1

I'd appreciate any and all feedback you guys are willing to give me, it helps me have a better idea of how I'm doing with my writing, and hopefully improve for the next chapter :)

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><p>Hermione appeared with a pop in the sitting room of the Burrow, but she could barely recognise it. Before she could do anything, however, two tall, identical, red-haired men were in the room, facing her with their wands drawn.<p>

"Who are you? How did you get through the wards?" one of them asked, his expression stony.

Hermione gasped as it dawned on her who she was looking at, once she realized they weren't Fred and George. "Oh _sweet_ Merlin. Are you Molly's brothers?"

They looked at each other quickly, and then turned to face her again. "How do you know our sister? What do you want with her?" the second brother asked.

"Gid? Fab? What's going on out there?" Molly called as she appeared in the doorway.

Hermione's face lit up. "Molly!" she cried, running up to the familiar – albeit younger than she remembered – woman and hugging her tightly. "Oh, thank goodness! What year is it?"

One of the brothers pulled her off a frozen Molly, and turned her around to put his wand up to her throat. "Moll, do you know this girl?"

She shook her head. "Who are you, how do you know who I am? And how did you get in my house?"

Hermione sucked in a large breath, and set her features to a determined expression. "Alright...even if you don't believe me at first, I ask that you just hear me out, please. I can prove my identity as I explain all of this. Would you mind please telling me the date first, though?"

"July 20, 1980."

"Bloody hell."

All of a sudden, a piercing cry rang out from upstairs. Molly went to leave the room, but stopped herself as she heard a chair scraping in the kitchen. "I've got it, Moll."

"Arthur..." Hermione whispered. "Wait...is that..._RONALD_?"

Molly looked back and forth between her brothers, clearly unnerved.

"Sit," Molly demanded. "Explain."

Hermione backed up slowly and perched on the edge of the couch. "My name is Hermione Jean Granger. I was born September 19, 1979." She raised her hand to prevent being interrupted, and then continued. "It was July 20, 1998 when I had an accident with a Time-Turner. I'm in your house because, well, it was here that the accident happened. Only, I assume I ended up in the sitting room because the room I was previously in must not exist yet. But wait, if it's July...then...tell me, are you pregnant, Molly?"

Molly gasped, and her brothers looked at her in surprise. "How- how did you know? I haven't told anyone yet, not even Arthur!"

"In the time I came from, my best friends were Harry Potter – son of Lily and James, he'll be born on the 31st of this month – and your son, Ronald Bilius Weasley. I am – well, was – extremely close with your family, and was staying here after the war until I could get a portkey to Australia to retrieve my parents...I'll explain that later. Anyway, Ron was snooping around in the bedroom I was sharing with – well, your daughter – when he came across a necklace of mine. He started spinning it, not knowing what it was, and asked me about it a few minutes later when I returned to the room. I realized it was my Time-Turner, snatched it from his hands, and was only able to tell him to floo Harry before I disappeared...and, well, you know what happens from there."

Molly gasped. "Daughter?" she whispered.

Gideon and Fabian exchanged wary looks before nodding slightly at each other and lowering their wands.

"In my time, Voldemort is dead. Harry defeated him on May 2, 1998. I can help you defeat him much sooner, but I'll need you to bring Albus Dumbledore here so I don't have to tell this story multiple times."

Molly nodded, and got up to floo the Headmaster. While she was gone, one of the Prewett twins turned to her. "So he's really dead? Do we all make it through the war?"

Hermione's eyes turned down towards her hands, which were folded in her lap, and she sighed. "Most of the family...well, the Weasley family, that is. You two...you die together dueling Death Eaters, shortly before the first fall of Voldemort. And we lost Fred in the final battle. I saw it happen, I could prove it if you had a pensieve. But everyone else makes it out alive; though I'm not sure with how George is doing it could actually be considered living..."

Their eyes went wide. They stood silently for a minute, collecting themselves, before one of them walked over to her and extended his hand. "Well, it seems we'll be stuck together for awhile, so I might as well introduce myself. I'm Gideon Prewett, and that's my less handsome twin brother Fabian. We're Molly's younger brothers, and we're 20."

She shook his hand, and an visible wave of relief seemed to wash through her. "Thank you," she breathed out softly, grasping his hand in both of hers. "Thank you for believing me. This is hard enough as it is, so I'm glad you seem to trust me."

They both nodded at her, and sat on either side of her on the couch as Molly and Dumbledore came through the floo. Molly went upstairs, calling for Arthur, as Dumbledore strode over to Hermione. She stood up and seemed to battle with herself for a moment, but then flung herself at the aged wizard, engulfing him in a fierce hug. "Professor Dumbledore!" she cried, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm so glad to see you. It's been so long..." She pulled away and wiped at her tears, realizing the spectacle she was making of herself, and looked at him bashfully. "I apologize for my outburst, sir. It's just, in the time I came from, you had died a year previously, and we had a long, difficult journey to finish the war without you."

He smiled sadly at her, and patted her back. "It's no problem, my dear. If you don't mind, could I have a look through your memories to see if you're really from when you say you are?"

"Of course, sir, I was anticipating it. I would recommend looking into my Hogwarts years, as I'm muggleborn, so anything before that wouldn't be of any significance to you."

He nodded, and looked into her mind. A moment later, he withdrew and looked at her sadly. "Am I right to assume that..._man_...in the Ministry was Voldemort?"

"Yes, sir. His form after being reborn. And the boy was the only son of James and Lily Potter."

"Ah, I suspected as much. He looks strikingly like James, but-"

"With Lily's eyes, yes," she interrupted, trailing off into a near-whisper. "Now, would you like to hear about the future? I will explain how we can defeat Voldemort in the process." Seeing all five heads nod (as Arthur and Molly had returned to the sitting room with baby Ron), she began her tale.

"Harry James Potter was born on July 31, 1980. At some time within the first year of his life, Sybill Trelawney prophesied in your presence. It was partially overheard by Severus Snape, who at the time was a loyal Death Eater, and he repeated what he had heard to his master. This prophecy was about the Dark Lord and Harry Potter – though it could have just as easily been about Neville Longbottom, son of Frank and Alice. From what he understood of the prophecy, Voldemort believed Harry Potter to be a threat to his power, so he had to eliminate him. Once Snape realized he was going after the Potters, he begged the Dark Lord to spare Lily's life. She had been his best friend growing up, and he was deeply in love with her, despite her being the wife of his long-time rival. Sometime in the following months, you two, Gideon and Fabian, were killed by Antonin Dolohov in a battle, but you managed to take down five Death Eaters in the process. Then, on October 31, 1981, Peter Pettigrew – who was chosen to be the Secret Keeper for the Potters' Fidelius charm, instead of Sirius Black – sold them out to the Dark Lord, who then went to their home in Godric's Hollow and killed James Potter upon entering. He went up to the nursery and told Lily to step aside, that he would spare her if she only handed over her son, but she insisted that he'd have to kill her before she'd let anything happen to Harry. So he did, and her sacrifice caused a deep, old magic to protect Harry when Voldemort went after him next. His killing curse rebounded off of Harry and back onto himself, and he disappeared. Nearly everyone believed him to be dead, though there were a few skeptics. Harry was left with a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, and was from then on known as the Boy-Who-Lived."

"Sirius Black went to check on Peter that night, and upon finding his home empty, got worried and went directly to the Potters'. Upon finding his best mate dead, he went upstairs and found Lily had met a similar fate, and his godson was crying for his parents in the wreckage of the nursery. He took Harry outside where he ran into Rubeus Hagrid, who had orders from Professor Dumbledore to fetch the child, and Sirius handed him off to the large man, leaving him with his enchanted motorbike as well for the journey. Hagrid flew Harry on the motorbike to the home of Petunia Dursley – his maternal aunt, who feared and despised anything and everything related to magic – where he was left on the doorstep in a bundle, with a letter explaining what happened. Meanwhile, Sirius tracked down Peter in muggle London, intending to confront him for betraying their best friend. Peter, however, shouted so all could hear about how _Sirius_ betrayed James and Lily, and then blasted the street around him, killing thirteen nearby muggles. Before the dust cleared, he cut off his finger, changed into his animagus form – a common garden rat – and disappeared. When the Aurors arrived, they arrested Sirius for the murder of the thirteen muggles and Peter Pettigrew – who they believed to have been so brutally murdered that only a finger remained of him. Sirius was sent to Azkaban without a trial, Peter received a posthumous Order of Merlin, and Harry grew up in a cupboard under the stairs in the home of his horrible muggle relatives, not knowing love or about the existence of magic until his Hogwarts letter arrived in the hands of Hagrid, along with his very first birthday present."

She paused for a moment to catch her breath, and Gideon conjured a glass of water for her. She nodded her thanks, then took a few sips and continued talking. She told them all about her six years at Hogwarts, and all the unusual events that occurred in the process, until she finally reached the death of Dumbledore.

"Harry had been having special 'lessons' with you all year, sir, in which you had been sharing with him all your knowledge of Tom Riddle's past and informing him of the horcruxes that you believed had been created – yes, that was horcrux_es_, plural. After your funeral, Harry, Ron and I decided not to return to Hogwarts for our seventh year, and instead went on a hunt for the remaining horcruxes at the end of the summer, after Bill Weasley's wedding. In the year that followed, we survived infiltrating the Ministry, being attacked by Voldemort's pet snake which had been hiding in the animated corpse of Bathilda Bagshot, being captured by snatchers and subsequently temporarily kept prisoner at Malfoy Manor – where I was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, breaking into Gringotts and escaping on a dragon, and then were rescued by your brother Aberforth by way of his pub in Hogsmeade, who helped us sneak into Hogwarts – which was under Death Eater rule with Snape as Headmaster – to find and destroy the final tangible horcrux. We engaged in battle with Voldemort's followers, during which we lost Fred Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, and Remus Lupin, among countless others. During an hour of cease-fire, Harry turned himself over to Voldemort, armed with two of the Deathly Hallows, sacrificing himself to protect everyone else fighting for the light. He was hit with the killing curse, which he miraculously survived again due to his sacrifice – the curse only affecting the part of him that turned out to be a horcrux – though only Narcissa Malfoy knew he wasn't dead. His body was taken back to Hogwarts to proclaim the dark side's victory, and another battle broke out. Neville Longbottom killed Nagini – the snake – with the sword of Godric Gryffindor, and suddenly, Harry's body disappeared. Molly, you took revenge on Bellatrix Lestrange when she nearly killed your daughter while locked in a duel with her, Luna Lovegood – daughter of Xenophilius – and myself, and then teased you about Fred's death once you took over for us. You killed her – and let me just say, I had never been more proud or more terrified of anyone in my entire life than of you in that moment. When Voldemort saw his most loyal follower slain, he turned his wand on you in a fit of rage, but then Harry appeared again and engaged Voldemort in a duel. Riddle was in possession of the Elder Wand, which he believed himself to be the master of, but it turns out that through a series of events, Harry was its true master. He threw the killing curse at Harry, at the same time as Harry disarmed him, and it resulted in Voldemort's wand flying through the air into Harry's hand and returning the spell back on its caster, killing a finally mortal Voldemort."

"Merlin's beard," Arthur breathed out, sitting back in his seat and taking Molly's free hand in his own.

"Well then, Miss Granger, it sounds like we'll have to induct you into the Order straightaway, and get started on finding and destroying these horcruxes. We'll have to give you a new identity, of course, so as not to cause suspicion in the future, and also figure out where you'll be staying until it's safe for you to live on your own and be known to the public – until Voldemort is destroyed, we need to keep your existence a secret, so as not to allow him to get a hold of you and learn the secrets of the future."

"Albus," Molly interrupted, "I think she should stay here with us."

"Oh, Molly, thank you, but I couldn't possibly impose on you and Arthur. You've enough mouths to feed already, and there'll hardly be room for another person here..."

"Nonsense. After everything you've done for my family in the future, it's the least we can do."

"I think that's a marvelous idea, Molly. With all her previous knowledge of your children, she'd be the perfect person to help you with them, when she's not doing work for the Order. Besides; there's a little-known fund at Hogwarts for students that come to us from orphanages, and it hasn't been needed for many years, so it's accumulated a lot of interest. I think, given the circumstances, we can afford to give Miss Granger a stipend every month for her basic necessities, therefore allowing her to contribute to the household. What do you think, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked.

"It would be wonderful – and comfortingly familiar – to live at the Burrow again," Hermione replied thoughtfully. "And I _do_ know the children quite well..."

"Then it's settled. We'll get you a room set up tomorrow; tonight, you'll have to take one of the beds in the boys' rooms, we'll do some rearranging when it's time to go to sleep," Molly declared. "Should I go get the boys to introduce them?"

"In a moment, Molly. First, we need to discuss Miss Granger's identity," Dumbledore replied.

"I'd like to be called Mya Lewis. Lewis is my mother's maiden name, and Mya is a nickname I was given by the Fred and George from my time. Close enough to my name for me to always remember to answer to it, but different enough that nobody should make the connection."

"Excellent," Dumbledore said. "Now, I think we'll say that you were raised in England, but moved to America for your schooling, and have only just returned to help in the fight against Voldemort. That should be simple enough, I expect. Molly, dear, why don't you go fetch the boys?"

Molly rose from her seat and went to collect her five eldest sons, and brought them back into the sitting room, two-year-old Fred and George balanced on either hip. "Boys, this is Mya, she's going to be staying with us and will be your new live-in nanny. Go give her a hug and introduce yourself, alright?"

The boys eyed her curiously; Percy stood with the best posture she'd ever seen from a four-year-old, and Fred and George hid shyly behind their mother's legs. Bill looked around at his brothers and sighed, then walked over to Hermione and gave her a hug. "I'm Billy, and I'm nine. I'm the oldest. This is Charlie, he's seven. He's my best friend. That there is Percy, he's four, and the twins are Fred and George. They're two. Oh, and baby Ronnie was born a few months ago. Why did you decide to come live with us?"

Hermione smiled warmly at him. "Thank you for the introductions, Billy. I'm pleased to meet all of you. I've just moved back to England to work with Professor Dumbledore on a special project, and needed a job and a place to stay, so your mum and dad offered to hire me on as a nanny. I'm very much looking forward to getting to know all of you."

Percy stepped forward apprehensively, and extended his hand in a very business-like fashion. "You seem like you're very smart, Miss Mya. Will you be able to teach me things so I can be smart too?"

She shook his hand gently, with a small laugh. "It would be an honour to share my knowledge with you, Percy."

Charlie came forward and stood with his chest puffed out. "Do you like dragons? I want to be a dragon tamer when I grow up!"

"Why yes, I think they're magnificent creatures. I even rode one, once. In fact..." She paused, pulling her small beaded bag out of her pocket, and was thankful to see all the contents made it through her time travel. She dug around in the bag – enlarged by an undetectable extension charm – with a thoughtful look on her face, until she found what she was looking for. "Aha!" she proclaimed, pulling out Harry's miniature Hungarian Horntail from the Triwizard Tournament. She held it out in the palm of her hand for Charlie to see, and he stepped closer and peered at it with wide eyes. "She's a Hungarian Horntail. My very best friend gave her to me, but I think she'll be happier with a future dragon tamer than a silly old nanny. She's yours if you promise to take good care of her. What do you say, Charlie?"

He reached his hand out nervously and touched her wing. She curled up in Hermione's hand and let out a puff of smoke towards his small fingers, and he beamed at her. Throwing himself at her, he hugged her fiercely. "Thank you, Mya! She's beautiful! I'll take the best care of her, I promise!"

He picked up the miniature dragon gently and hurried back over to show Billy. The twins stepped out from behind Molly's legs with curious expressions, but only got as far as standing beside them, still clinging to her. "Fred? George?" Molly called down to them. They looked up at her in question. "Why don't you go say hi to Mya?" They looked at each other, and hesitantly let go of the bottom of Molly's skirt, but made no steps toward the couch.

Hermione studied them for a moment, looking like she was having a small internal debate. She finally reached back down into her bag, and pulled out a small pastry wrapped in a bright yellow box. Removing the packaging, she extended it towards the twins, who glanced at it curiously and slowly took a few steps closer. When they were about to reach her, hands extended to take the treat, she suddenly pulled her hand back and popped the treat into her mouth, making the boys frown. A few seconds later, she turned into a canary with a loud pop. The twins squealed and ran towards their uncles on either side of Hermione with shocked expressions, and each stood between the legs of one of the men, facing her and gripping their uncles' knees. She started molting, and as she slowly began to look human again, the twins beamed at her, starry-eyed in wonder. Seeing this, she smiled and ruffled their hair. "I think we're going to be very good friends," she stated, as the adults around her all chuckled.

-oOo-

Albus stood up and gave Hermione a significant look. She nodded at him, and then leaned back to look at both of the Prewetts beside her at once. She gave them a look that said, 'follow my lead.' "Okay, boys, I need to talk to Mr. Dumbledore and your parents for a few minutes. Why don't you go run upstairs with your uncles to play? I'll meet you up there in a few minutes, and teach you a fun game I learned from my cousin!" The five kids jumped up and ran upstairs, while their uncles stood and looked at her. "Sorry to just throw you to the wolves, but would you mind keeping them entertained for a few minutes so I can finish up with Professor Dumbledore?" They just nodded their assent and followed their nephews up the stairs.

"Please, dear, call me Albus," Dumbledore said to Hermione. "Now, we'll need to call a meeting of the Order tonight, to induct you and introduce you to everyone. We won't tell them anything about you other than the background we decided on; we need to tell as few people as possible about your true nature, for your safety. It'll be at 7:30 at Bones Manor; I trust you'll see to it that she gets there, Arthur?"

"Of course, Albus," he replied. "Would you mind coming back here tomorrow to help us add a room onto the house?"

"Consider it done. Now, I must be on my way; Minerva will have my hide if I'm late to the staff meeting. It was lovely to meet you, Miss Lewis, I look forward to welcoming you into the Order tonight."

Hermione smiled warmly at Albus. "Thank you so much, sir. It really is a relief having someone of your position who trusts and believes me, and I will do my utmost to ensure that we defeat Voldemort as quickly as possible."

Albus left through the floo, and Molly turned to Hermione and Arthur. "Well, dears, it's been a crazy afternoon, but that doesn't mean I won't have to make dinner. I'm going to go get started on the cooking; please, make yourself at home, Mya."

"Thank you, Molly," she replied. Turning to Arthur, she smiled mischievously. "Say, Arthur, do you have the afternoon free?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Well, I told the boys that I would teach them a game when I got upstairs, and I was wondering if you would like to join us. It's an American muggle game..."

"Count me in!" he shouted as he bolted up the stairs, leaving Hermione chuckling in the sitting room.

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><p>Posted: 5 March 2012<br>Word Count: 4,112


	3. Chapter 2

_Happy Pi Day!_

_I know the twins and Percy might seem a bit advanced for their ages, but I figure that between being magical children, having a high level of intelligence, and having older brothers they want to be like, they'd likely be ahead of other kids their age anyway._

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><p>When Hermione reached the second floor landing, she found all the boys – and men – piled into Billy and Charlie's room. "Hey there, boys! How would you like to play a game called Cowboys and Indians?"<p>

"What's that?" Charlie asked.

"Well, cowboys are people who live out in the western part of America. They dress in boots, hats, jeans, vests, and have big belt buckles, and they ride horses and carry guns, which are muggle weapons. Indians are the native people of the Americas, who were there before the British settled there. They don't like the cowboys because they're taking over their home and stealing their land. The Indians dress in animal skins, wear feathers in their hair, and believe that everything has a spirit that should be respected. They like to commune with nature."

"This sounds fun!" Gideon exclaimed. "I think I'll be an Indian. What about you guys?" he asked, turning to Fred and George. They nodded brightly, and went to stand by their uncle.

"I don't know which one I want to be," Percy said morosely.

Hermione looked at him thoughtfully, then nodded and smiled. "I'm gonna guess that you are the kind of guy that likes following the rules, and making sure others follow them as well. Am I right, Percy?" He nodded curiously. "Well, in that case, I think you should be the Sheriff. He's like the head Auror for the cowboys. How's that?"

Percy smiled brightly, and she conjured a star-shaped badge for him. "Now, how about I be the Squaw, which is an Indian woman, and the rest of you can be cowboys. Alright?" Everyone nodded. "Okay. Indians on Billy's side of the room, and cowboys on Charlie's."

Everyone separated to their indicated side, and Hermione set to transfiguring their clothes to match the game. She gave Billy, Charlie, Arthur, Percy, and Fabian jeans, cowboy boots and hats, button-down shirts, a vest, a bolo, and a belt with a big buckle. She spotted a few Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans on Charlie's end table, and transfigured them into a toy gun for each of the cowboys. She then went to the other side of the room, braiding her hair down her back on the way, and transfigured her own clothing into fake animal skins. Turning to Fred, George, and Gideon, she transfigured their clothes as well, and then conjured a headband with feathers for each of the three of them. She magicked all of their trainers into moccasins, then transfigured a quill from Billy's desk into war paint, giving each of them stripes on their cheeks. "Alright. Let's head down to the yard and we'll get started."

They all trooped down to the paddock where Hermione transfigured a stick into a tepee, and then another into a small saloon front. The two sides divided up into their separate buildings, and started planning their attack.

-oOo-

Molly was humming to herself in the kitchen, stirring the tomato sauce, when loud noises started coming from the yard. She dropped the spoon, startled, and bustled outside to see what the commotion was. When she stepped through the door, she smiled fondly at the scene in front of her. Fabian was on all fours, and Charlie was riding him like a horse. He held his gun to Gideon, and shouted at him. "Surrender, savage! I'll spare your life if you git on outta town!"

"NEVER!" Gideon exclaimed. "These lands belong to me and my people!" He held his tomahawk up in his hand, and swung it at Charlie.

Charlie aimed his gun at his uncle's arm. "POW!" he yelled. "That's one Injun out of the way. Sheriff! Come arrest this man!" Percy came running over, badge shining proudly on his chest, and 'handcuffed' Gideon, leading him over to the saloon where Arthur would escort him into a 'holding cell'.

Charlie rode Fabian's back over to the twins, who were facing down Billy. The twins ran in circles around the two cowboys, confusing them and managing to tie them up together. They stole their guns, and George 'dragged' them towards the tepee while Fred commandeered their 'horse,' riding him alongside his captives. They got to the tepee and Hermione came running out, eyes wide at the sight in front of her. "Running Sheep! Sleeping Bear! You captured these men?"

"Yes, Lil Panfer, an' we got deir howsey!" George exclaimed.

"But Bwown Hown got cap'shud! Dey have'im at da s'woon!" Fred cried.

"Brown Horn's at the saloon? Oh no! Here, I'll take care of the hostages, and you two take the horse back into town to rescue him," she replied. As the twins took off on Fabian's back, she led Billy and Charlie into the tepee.

Molly chuckled, and caught Arthur's eye from across the yard. He smiled broadly at her and went back to tying up Gideon as she turned around and headed back into the house.

-oOo-

As soon as Molly called them all in to wash up for dinner, Hermione set to canceling all the transfigurations. Gideon came over to help, while Arthur and Fabian led the kids who'd already been put back to rights inside to the bathroom. "You are apparently an extremely talented witch," he commented, waving his wand over Percy. Percy snatched his Sheriff's badge before it could be vanished and ran off into the house, leaving Gideon chuckling.

"Well thank you. In my time, they referred to me as the brightest witch of my age, though I'm not one to boast about my talents. I like learning for the sake of learning, not to be better than others," she replied.

"You sound a bit like Lily Potter to me," he remarked.

"Yes, my professors have compared me to her on a number of occasions over the course of my Hogwarts career. I can't wait to meet her tonight."

They continued their wand work in a comfortable silence, until Gideon waved his wand one last time, vanishing the war paint from his face. "There, all finished. Well, Miss Lewis, shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the house. She gave him a small smile, and the two walked back into the house to clean themselves up for dinner.

-oOo-

When Hermione, Arthur, Gideon and Fabian got back from the Order meeting later that night, Molly was just finishing up getting all her boys ready for bed. Gideon and Fabian went upstairs to say goodnight to all the boys and Molly, and then disapparated back to their flat after saying goodbye to Hermione and Arthur.

The two remaining adults climbed the stairs to help Molly get everyone settled into their beds. Hermione went to the twins' room first to tuck them in, and found them huddled together on one of the beds, whispering to each other. When they heard her enter, their heads popped up to look at her. "Miss Mya, Miss Mya!" George shouted. "Wheah you gonna be sweepin'?"

"I'm not sure yet, George, your mum has to figure that out."

"We fink you shud sweep in hewe," Fred said, matter-of-factly. "We kin ha' a sweepo'er. You kin ha' my bed, I'w sweep in Geogie's."

Hermione smiled at them fondly. "Well that's very nice of you, boys! Why don't I go ask your mum..."

"Ask me what, dear?" Molly inquired as she walked into the room.

"Fred and George would like me to sleep in here tonight; they even offered to share a bed so I could have one to myself."

Molly grinned at her. "Sounds like you've got some admirers already," she whispered conspiratorially. "I think that's a great idea. You don't mind bunking together, boys?"

They shook their heads. "Nah. We sweep tog'er in Geogie's bed whene' we get scawed, we don' min'," Fred replied.

"Well, it sounds like my mind has already been made up for me," Molly stated. "Let me just go get you a pillow, and we'll settle you in."

"Oh, no, I'm fine, Molly. I think I've actually got one in here," she said, reaching into her beaded bag. "I'm pretty exhausted from all of today's chaos; I might just go to sleep when they do. Is that alright? Is there anything else you need me to do?"

"Oh no, dear. You've had a long day, get some sleep. I'll tuck the rest of the boys in, if you don't mind taking care of these two. Goodnight, Fred, goodnight, George. Sweet dreams," she said softly, kissing each boy on the forehead.

"G'night, Mum!" they chimed as she exited the room.

"Alright, boys. As much fun as it would be to stay up all night telling stories and playing games, we need our sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a big day; you guys get to help me decorate my new room!" she proclaimed, walking over to George's bed to tuck them in.

"Awiiiiiiight," George replied dejectedly. "Wait, wheah's Miste' Powkin'ton?"

Fred scrambled out of the bed and pulled himself up onto his own. Reaching between the mattress and the wall, he pulled out a worn stuffed pig with a top hat and a monocle. "Got'im!" he declared, and dragged the pig back over to George's bed.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Hermione asked, smiling.

George turned to her quickly, as if having forgotten she was there, and grabbed the pig from Fred. Holding him up to her, he announced, "Dis is Miste' Powkin'ton. Miste' Powkin'ton, dis is Mya. She's ou' new fwend."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Porkington!" she said, reaching out to shake one of the pig's small, fuzzy hooves. "Do you share him?"

"Mhmm," Fred replied, "when we sweep in ou' own beds, he sweeps wif whoeve' needs him mowe. And he sweeps 'tween us if we'we tog'er."

"Oh, that's a very smart arrangement. I'm sure Mr. Porkington is quite fond of you both. Alright, climb under the covers, boys. You too, Mr. Porkington; you don't get to stay up later than your roommates!" she declared, shaking her finger, and the boys giggled. Nestling the pig between themselves, they climbed under the blankets, and Hermione went over to tuck them in. "Goodnight, boys. I've had a very fun day with you, thank you for letting me sleep in here."

"G'night, Mya," they said together.

Fred yawned and closed his eyes, snuggling a little closer to his brother. "Night, Geogie."

"Night," he replied with a whisper, already drifting off to sleep.

Hermione went to the loo to change into pyjamas and brush her teeth, and by the time she got back to the twins' room, they were already asleep. She quietly climbed into Fred's empty bed and pulled the blanket around herself. "Goodnight, Ron and Harry, I miss you," she whispered, barely audibly.

-oOo-

The next day, being a Sunday, saw the elder twins back at the Burrow. They had come to help with distracting the boys while Dumbledore added a room onto the house for Hermione, and were currently upstairs doing just that. Meanwhile, Arthur and Hermione were standing on the third floor landing with Albus, helping determine the proportions and placement for the room.

"I think we should add a bathroom to this bedroom, so Mya can have her privacy," Arthur stated. "According to her, we're going to have a daughter one day, so it'll be perfect for whenever Mya gets her own place and leaves the Burrow for our little girl to have a bit of a reprieve from all the boys."

"Oh, thank you, Arthur, that's so thoughtful. And convenient; after all, in my time, she actually _did_ have her own bathroom away from the boys," Hermione replied.

"Alright, with me on three," Dumbledore instructed. On his cue, they all said a charm together, and the door to a new bedroom appeared on the wall in front of them. "Well, go on, Miss Lewis, take a look!"

She walked into the room and took a look around. "It's perfect, thank you both. I'm so grateful for all you've done for me in the past 24 hours."

"Oh, it's no trouble, my dear," Albus replied, waving her off. "After all, you hold the key to helping us win this war; as far as I'm concerned, nothing could ever be enough to repay you for that." Hermione blushed at this remark, but Arthur started talking before she could respond.

"Please, there's no reason to thank us, Mya. You're a member of the family now, after all," he said with a warm smile. Hermione's face lit up, and she threw her arms around the older man.

"You're a wonderful man, Arthur. I couldn't ask for a better family; you won't regret this."

Just then, two tiny ginger blurs came streaking into the room and wrapped their arms around Hermione's legs. "Mya! Mya! Dis you' new woom?"

"Hullo Fred, hullo George; yes, it is! Are you here to help me unpack already?"

"Uh huh," George replied, nodding. "We gonna be extwa hepfuw! Miss Mya's woom gotta be _pewfect_."

Hermione looked down at them and noticed that they were wearing tiny tool belts with toy muggle tools hanging from them. "Oh, you even came prepared with your tools! Thank you, boys!" At her declaration, Arthur and Albus looked down and noticed the belts as well, and chuckled.

"They seem to have taken quite a shine to young Miss Lewis, Arthur. You should keep an eye on these three; you may find yourself planning a wedding in the near future!" Albus teased joyfully.

"A weddin'? Wif Miss Mya? I wanna mawwy Mya! Pick me!" Fred shouted.

She looked down at him with a fond grin, and ruffled his hair. "That's very flattering, Fred, but I don't plan on getting married anytime soon. Perhaps we should wait a few years."

"Okaaaaaay," he replied, sulking.

"Good! Now I kin pwan how to get hew to mawwy _me_ instead!" George proclaimed, earning another laugh from all the adults. "Sooo, what kin I do?" he asked, cocking his head to the side and reaching for Hermione's beaded bag.

"Wait a minute, George, you have to let me get the boxes out first!"

"You have _boxes_ in there?" Arthur asked, surprised. "How much stuff do you carry around in your purse?"

Hermione chuckled. "Not much, usually, but before I came here I had been packing up my things to move to Harry's house, so most of my possessions are conveniently still with me."

"Who Hawwy?" Fred asked.

"He's my very best friend," Hermione replied with a smile. "You remember that dragon I gave to Charlie last night? Harry is the one who gave that to me."

"Ca' we meet'im?" George asked, tugging on the bottom of her shorts.

"No, I'm afraid not," she said with a sad smile. "At least, not for a very long time. One day, maybe."

"Alright, well, I need to be getting back to Hogwarts, Albus said. "I'm just going to go into the other room and duplicate the bed you slept in last night, and levitate it in here for you." He walked out, and came back a minute later with the bed floating along in front of him. Arthur grabbed the twins and pulled them out of the way as Hermione directed Dumbledore on where to put it.

"Thank you, sir. I'll see you again soon; send for me at any time if you need me." Hermione smiled at the Headmaster as the twins waved at him, and he apparated out of the Burrow with a pop.

"I think we might have an old dresser up in the attic, let me go take a look," Arthur said, leaving the room.

"Be wight back!" the twins exclaimed, running from the room as fast as their tiny little legs could take them. Before she could even miss their presence, they had returned, papers clutched in their tiny fists. "Unca Gid an' Unca Fab he'ped us make dese fow you dis mownin'!" George said, grinning from ear to ear and holding his out to her.

"Yeah, it's pikshuws fow you' woom!" Fred added, copying his brother's action.

"You did this just for me?" she asked, and they nodded, beaming. "Why thank you, they're great! No one's ever made me artwork before. I think I'll hang these right over my bed, so they're the first things I see when I wake up every morning."

The twins laughed in delight, and ran over to hop up onto her bed. "Where should I put them?" she asked. The boys each pointed to a spot, and she hung them with a sticking charm. "How about you explain what you drew?"

Fred immediately started babbling about a tepee and a horse, and when he was done, George explained that it was a picture of their sleepover, complete with Mr. Porkington. Hermione felt herself fill with joy; the twins may have just replaced Ron as her favorite Weasleys. They were so unbelievably adorable as toddlers, and they had formed such a strong bond with her within just 24 hours. She was very much looking forward to watching them grow up, especially since she couldn't have them back at the age she knew them as friends.

Arthur took that moment to walk back into the room, a small box in his hands. "I found a few pieces of furniture for you; a chest of drawers, an end table, and a makeshift desk...oh, did the boys draw those for you?" he asked, as he looked up and saw the pictures on the wall. They nodded eagerly. "That was very nice of you, boys, they're very good. Okay, you two stay over there on the bed while Mya and I unshrink this furniture." He pulled a miniature desk out of the box, and handed it to her to return to its proper size while he handled the dresser. Once they were done arranging those, and the end table, he pulled out a few more things and handed them to her. "I also found some sheets for you, as well as an old lamp for your desk. Is there anything you can think of that we've forgotten?" he asked, placing the box on the end table.

"Oh no, thank you. This is more than enough. Would you be terribly offended if I transfigured the bureau into a bookcase? I have more books than I know what to do with..." she replied, blushing.

"Oh, no need! Billy and Charlie have a bookshelf in their room that they don't use yet, so it's just taking up space. I'll go ask them if they mind if you borrow it for awhile."

"No, that's alright, I'll go ask them. I can't thank you enough for your hospitality and generosity." She walked from the room and went down a flight of stairs to find the three eldest boys listening to their uncles tell a story, enraptured. She stood in the doorway for a few minutes, just observing them, until Fabian looked up and noticed her there.

"Why hello there, Mya, how was your first night here?" he asked with a small smile. At the sound of her name, the other four looked up at her.

"Oh, it was very nice, thank you. Fred, George and I had a sleepover, and I got to meet Mr. Porkington. The three of us are putting together my new room right now, with Arthur's assistance. That's actually what I came in here for. Billy, Charlie? Your dad said you had a bookshelf that you don't really use. I was wondering if I could borrow it for awhile, while I'm staying here. You should have it back by the time you need it for Hogwarts, I don't expecting to be living here much longer than that."

"Of course!" Charlie exclaimed, jumping off his bed to go clear his toys off one of the lower shelves. "Here, Billy, these are yours," he said to his brother, passing him a few things. "There, it's empty. You should come back here after you move it, Gid and Fab tell the best stories!"

"Thank you, but I think I'm going to finish unpacking my room with your little brothers first so I don't have to worry about it later. If it's still story time when we're done, then we'll be glad to join you," she replied. She walked further into the room, raised her wand, and shrank the bookcase. She carried it up the stairs to her new room, where she found Fred and George 'working' on her bed with their little tools. She chuckled, unshrank the bookcase, and put it in its place. Pulling out an old camera Ginny had given her, she snapped a quick picture of the twins at work. "Oi, are you boys building me something?"

The toddlers looked up at the sound of her voice and grinned. "No, not biwding," Fred said.

"We'we makin' suwe you' bed is fix'd!" George added.

"Well thank you, that was very considerate! When you're done with the bed, would you like to help me put my books away? It's the most important job, you know."

The twins jumped up from the bed excitedly, with a joint exclamation of "aw done!," and clambered down to the floor.

"Okay, go sit in front of the bookshelf, and leave some space between you. Now, you need to be very, very careful. My books are fragile, and some of them are quite old. You can only pick up one at a time, and gently stand it up on the shelf before going to get another. If any of the books are too heavy for you, just skip over it, alright? And just call my name when the shelf is filled." The boys nodded, and she rooted around in her bag until she found a box of books. Opening it, she started taking them out and placing them on the floor between the twins. Sure, it would make extra work, and she'd just have to go back later and reorganise them, but this made the twins happy – and kept them out of trouble – so she thought it was worth it.

Once Fred and George were settled with their book duty, Hermione put sheets on her bed and started putting her clothes away in her drawers. About ten minutes later, she could sense someone watching her, and turned around to find Gideon leaning against the door frame, observing her and the twins like she had done to him and the others earlier. "Hey there, come to help?"

He pushed himself off the doorway with his shoulder and walked into the room, taking a seat on her bed. Before he could respond, there was a shout of "she'f's fuw!" from the floor.

"Well, I was hoping to catch you on a break so I could talk you into sneaking downstairs for some biscuits with me, but I suppose I can pitch in in the meantime," he responded with a cheeky smile. "What can I do?"

"Would you mind levitating that shelf up to the top rung of the bookcase, please, and then put a new one on the bottom for the boys to fill?" she answered as she went to hang some clothes in the closet.

"No problem." He stood from the bed and walked over to the twins. "Okay, boys, I need you to go stand over by the bed for a minute, alright?" Once the boys were out of the way, he levitated the shelf up to its place, and put a new one down like she asked. "Alright. Thanks, boys, you can get back to work now." The twins ran back over to the books and started shelving them again, and Gideon went to lean against the desk where Hermione was sat, organising her writing materials. "Tell me, why do you have a pair of two-year-olds shelving books? Isn't there something more...I dunno...age-appropriate for them to do?"

She smiled up at him before responding. "It seemed like the least destructive task, and they seem to be doing a good enough job. They really wanted to help, I couldn't refuse them. I mean, I'll have to go back and reorganise them later, but it's worth the extra effort to see the smiles on their faces, don't you think?"

He looked over at them again, and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I suppose it is. I love that they're wearing tool belts. It doesn't surprise me in the least. Fab and I would have done the same thing..."

She chuckled. "It's adorable, really. When I got back from getting the bookshelf from Billy and Charlie, they were sitting on my bed, 'fixing' it with their little tools."

He grinned at the mental picture. "Hey, Fabian and I were thinking about going out for drinks after dinner tonight with his girlfriend Emmeline, since we don't have to work tomorrow. Would you like to join us? I could use the company, being the third wheel and all..."

"Guilting me into this, are you?" she asked with a teasing grin. "I'd love to. I'm looking forward to getting to know you and your brother, actually – it'll be nice to have friends my own age here – so I'm glad you asked. I just can't leave until I've helped Molly get all the kids into bed, is that alright?"

"Of course! We wouldn't leave without saying goodnight to the little buggers," he replied. "Well, I'm gonna go take Billy and Charlie out back for a fly, I'll see ya later."

"Alright, have fun. And send in Percy, will you?"

A few minutes later, Percy walked into the room. "You asked for me, Miss Mya?"

"Hello, Percy! I was wondering if you'd like to join us in here, since your uncles and brothers went outside and left you alone."

"Myaaaa," a little voice whined from over by the bookcase. "We'we tiewd of puttin' 'way books."

"Oh, I have an idea! Percy, would you mind reading one of your picture books to your brothers while I finish unpacking? If you do, I'll start teaching you how to read big kid books after your afternoon nap," she offered.

He immediately brightened up at the thought of learning how to read, and turned to his brothers. "Fred, George, I'm going to read you a book, okay? Go sit up on the bed, I'll be right back." He bolted from the room, and came back less than a minute later with a few books in his small hands. Seeing the twins leaning up against the wall behind the bed, he climbed up and sat between them. "Okay, pick which one you want me to read," he told them, and George immediately pointed to the one with the dragons. He set the others aside, opened the book, and started telling a story from the pictures inside.

Hermione got back to work, and a few minutes later, she could hear Molly coming up the stairs. "It is _entirely_ too quiet in this house, Mya; have you seen the boys?"

"In hewe, Mum!" Fred called out, and Hermione stepped aside so Molly could walk into her room. Spotting her three sons sitting peacefully, reading a book together, she smiled warmly.

"Oh Percy, you're reading to the twins? How sweet! Are you boys all behaving for Mya?"

"Of course, Mum. Fred and George just finished helping her unpack, and she said she's going to start teaching me how to read after lunch!" Percy exclaimed.

"That's wonderful, Percy, I know how much you've been looking forward to that. Where did the rest of your brothers get off to?" Molly asked.

"Fabian and Gideon took Billy and Charlie outside to do some flying," Hermione replied. "I think they were getting antsy after sitting still for so long during story time."

"Oh, alright, that explains the quiet, then," Molly said. "Did you need any help unpacking? Arthur's got Ronnie, so I'm free at the moment."

"Oh no, Molly, thank you, I'm almost done," she replied, waving off the notion. "Why don't you go sit down and relax with a nice cuppa, and take advantage of the quiet?"

"Maybe I will..." she mused.

"Yeah, Mum, go 'lax! We'we bein' good boys, you don' need ta wowwy," George said, in a voice much more innocent than she'd ever heard from someone in their Terrible Twos; especially him.

"Alright, alright, if you insist..." she replied with a big smile. She murmured to herself as she left the room and went down the stairs. "I don't know how she does it; the boys are acting like angels today! I'd better keep her around..."

* * *

><p>Posted: 14 March 2012<br>Word Count: 4,929


	4. Chapter 3

_This chapter is dedicated to my Grandpa Seymour, who passed away last night at the age of 86. Love you and miss you, Grandpa._

* * *

><p>After dinner that night, Hermione was helping Molly and Arthur get the boys into bed. She went into the twins' room first again, and found them sitting on their beds in matching pyjamas, making faces across the room at each other. When they heard her walk in, they turned to look at her, and she found herself making a silly face at the both of them, causing them to break out in a fit of giggles. "Alright, boys, it's time to get to bed. Let's see...one, two...oh no! What happened to Mr. Porkington? It's his bedtime too!"<p>

"Siwwy Mya, he's wight hewe!" Fred replied with a wide grin, holding him up for her to see. He tucked him back under his arm and laid back down.

"Phew, didn't want to get him in trouble with your mum." She walked over to George's bed and tucked him into his blankets, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"Mya? Awe you sweepin' in you' woom t'night?" George asked in a sleepy voice.

"Mhmm. That's where I'm going to sleep every night from now on," she replied, smoothing back his hair.

"_E'wy_ night? D'zat mean no mowe sweepo'ers?"

Hermione shook her head in amusement. "Okay, maybe not _every_ night. We _do_ need to have a sleepover every once in awhile."

"Good," he replied quietly.

She got up and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, George," she said, and made her way over to Fred's bed. Tucking him in, she peeked beneath the covers to make sure Mr. Porkington was still there, and pulled him up a bit so his head stuck out from beneath the blanket. She kissed the pig's forehead, and then Fred's, and said, "goodnight, Mr. Porkington, goodnight, Fred," as she exited the room. Closing the door, she met Molly on the stairs.

"Billy and Charlie are all settled into bed, as is Percy, though he wanted you to come in and say goodnight. Are the twins all settled?" she asked the younger girl.

"Yes, Molly. I'll go see Percy, and then I'm going out for drinks with your brothers. Did you need anything else before I go?"

"No, no, dear, you go out and have a good time, and do try to keep my brothers in line," she teased. "Don't forget your glamours before you leave!"

"Thanks, Molly, I'll do my best with the boys, but no promises," she replied with a wink. She went across the hall to Percy's room, and knocked before she opened the door. "Percy? I heard you wanted to talk to me before you went to sleep..."

He sat up in bed. "Mya! Yes, I wanted to thank you again for starting me on reading today, I'm really excited about it, it was a lot of fun. I can't wait until I'm good enough to read chapter books!" he exclaimed, reaching out to give her a hug.

"It was my pleasure, Percy, I had fun as well. We'll work on it again later in the week, alright?" He nodded, and she leaned over to kiss his forehead. "Get some sleep now. I have to go, your uncles are waiting for me. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mya," he replied as he snuggled back down under the covers.

Hermione climbed the stairs to her room and opened her closet, trying to decide what to wear. Feeling daring, since it was her first time really going out to the pub as an adult, she pulled on a pair of skinny black jeans and a sparkly silver top with an open back, and slipped on her favourite red heels. She put on a minimal amount of makeup, and then pulled out her wand. She charmed her hair black and tamed it into thick, smooth ringlets. Fishing her purse out of her beaded bag, she headed downstairs, wand in hand.

The twins saw her before she noticed them, and Gideon's eyes bugged out, his mouth dropping open in surprise. Fabian saw his brother's expression out of the corner of his eye, and nudged him with his elbow. "Quit drooling, mate, birds don't go for that," he jibed quietly.

Gideon shut his mouth with a glare at his twin, and walked over to Hermione, taking her hand and kissing it softly with a cheeky grin on his face. "If it's not too forward, I'd like to say that you look absolutely ravishing tonight, Miss Lewis."

She blushed fiercely. "Thank you, Mr. Prewett. You clean up pretty well yourself. Are you two ready to go?"

"Just waitin' on Emmy," Fabian replied. Hearing a pop on the front porch, he strode to the door. "And speak of the devil, I believe she's just arrived." He opened the door and ushered her in, kissing her cheek.

She walked over to Hermione and extended her hand. "Hi! I'm Emmeline Vance, we met briefly at Amelia's last night."

"Yes, I remember," Hermione replied, shaking her hand. "It's nice to see you again."

Gideon strode over and swept his brother's girlfriend up in a hug, lifting her off the floor. "Emmy, my love! I've been wilting like a flower without sun in your absence!"

"Gideon Prewett, put me down!" she squealed. He gently put her back on her feet, and turned to Fabian.

"Well, brother, are we ready?" Fabian nodded, and took Emmeline's arm.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asked.

Gideon just wrapped his arm through hers and shook his head with a mischievous grin. "Uh uh uh, it's a surprise. I'm going to side-along you." And with that, he twisted in the air and apparated them away.

-oOo-

They landed in an alley, and walked out onto a poorly-lit street that was sparsely populated. Hermione could hear the thumping bass of loud dance music coming from somewhere nearby. "Where are we?" she asked, looking around and trying to get her bearings.

"Offish Alley, it's on the opposite side of Knockturn from Diagon," Fabian replied.

"That's where we're headed," Gideon added, pointing at one of the buildings. "The Grindylow. It's half-pub, half-dance club."

When they arrived, they decided to start out their night just talking over drinks in the quieter half of the establishment, so the girls sat themselves at a table near the bar while the twins went to get their drinks. "I'm so glad Gideon brought you as his date tonight; it's always a little awkward when it's just the three of us," Emmeline said, sliding into the booth.

"Oh no, this isn't a date!" Hermione replied quickly. "I was under the impression that this was a group thing."

Emmeline chuckled. "Well, considering I'm Fab's date, I'd think that'd make you Gid's date by default..."

Hermione blushed, and was rescued from the awkward subject matter by the arrival of the guys. "A Firewhiskey for the lady," Gideon said, placing a drink in front of Hermione and sliding into the booth beside her.

"Thank you," Hermione replied. "What shall we toast to?"

"We can't toast yet! We have to wait for the shots to get here first," Fabian exclaimed. "The bartender should be bringing them by any minute now."

Sure enough, the bartender came by their table with a round of shots for each of them. "What are these?" Emmeline asked, lifting the shot glass closer to her eyes to inspect it.

The guys looked at each other and grinned widely, turned to their respective companions, and replied together, "Red-Headed Sluts."

The girls burst out laughing, and Emmeline swatted Fabian's arm as she tried to catch her breath. "Why am I not surprised?"

"I propose a toast," Gideon declared, lifting up his shot glass. "To friends, both old and new."

"I'll toast to that," Fabian replied, and brought his own shot glass up to tap his brother's as the girls lifted theirs as well. They all downed their shots together, and settled into their seats feeling a little more lighthearted than when they arrived.

-oOo-

An hour and a half and a few drinks later, Gideon turned to a pleasantly drunk Hermione. "What do you say we get out of here, so we don't have to watch this?" he asked, gesturing towards his brother and Emmeline, who were fawning over each other in a sickeningly sweet manner.

Hermione nodded. "I'd actually been thinking about getting up to dance. Shall we?"

Gideon slid out of the booth and held his hand out to help Hermione out as well. "Let's go show them how the professionals do it," he said with a cheeky grin. Hermione just laughed and slid her hand into the crook of his arm, following him into the dance club portion of the establishment.

They danced for awhile, switching styles with every song change, and Hermione couldn't help but feel delightfully happy. She hadn't danced with anyone since Bill's wedding, and that was nearly a year ago; she had forgotten how nice it was to have a competent dance partner.

Gideon, for his part, couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He had described her as 'ravishing' at the beginning of the night, but at this point, she could be considered nothing less than breathtaking. Her cheeks were flushed, there was a smile on her face that hadn't disappeared since they first reached the dance floor, her eyes were alight with happiness; she seemed to be positively _glowing_. He didn't think he'd ever seen a more beautiful or enticing sight in his life, and he told her so.

Hermione blushed, and buried her face in his chest as they waltzed at a tempo completely separate from the music playing in the club. "Why are you hiding?" he asked, drawing her face back up with two fingers placed under her chin.

"I'm just not used to being complimented on anything other than my brain," she replied.

"Well, you'd better start getting used to it, because you're far too pretty for me _not_ to tell you so," he declared, and then spun her out and caught her in his arms again as she spun back to him. She laughed airily, and reached up to place her hand on his chest, leaning back to be able to see his face.

"You know, you're not too hard on the eyes yourself," she said with a saucy wink that was totally out of character for her...not that he knew her well enough to recognize that yet. He grinned brightly at her, and the song changed to a popular muggle dance track.

"How do you dance to this?" he exclaimed. "What even is this music?"

"It's a muggle song," she replied. Feeling a bit braver than usual, probably due to the liquid courage running through her veins, she told him she would teach him. She began to dance much closer to him than they'd been thus far, and he looked nervously at her as he tried to mimic her moves...not that he was complaining about his proximity to her.

-oOo-

"There they are! Oh, Fab, look at them! See how they're looking at each other?" Emmeline exclaimed. "I give them three months, maximum."

Fabian wrapped his arm around her. "If I know anything about my brother – and I do know quite a bit about him – it's that he's terribly slow with these things. I say it'll happen around Christmas."

"You're on," she agreed. She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and dragged him over to the dance floor, catching the attention of Gideon and Hermione. "Hey," she called to them, reaching out to put a hand on Hermione's arm. "It's late, we should be going."

Hermione and Gideon looked at each other and a nod of resignation passed between them. They turned and followed the other two out of the club and back onto Offish Alley. "Mya, maybe you should spend the night at our place," Gideon said, causing her to look up at him in surprise. "If you go back to the Burrow, you risk waking the boys when you climb the stairs, and that's just more trouble than it's worth to sleep in your own bed, yeah?"

She thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah, alright, that's a fair point. Would you mind lending me something to sleep in, then?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied. "Take my arm, and I'll side-along you there." Nodding at his brother, he apparated the two of them to the flat he shared with his twin. "Welcome to our humble abode...it's not much, but it's home."

"It's lovely," Hermione proclaimed. "It feels so cosy, reminds me of the flat the Fred and George from my time got together after Hogwarts."

He gave her a tour of the flat, ending outside his bedroom. Tugging her inside, he went to his bureau and took out a pair of pyjama pants and one of his most comfortable old shirts. He handed her the clothing, and pointed her in the direction of the bathroom. While he was alone in the room, he quickly changed his sheets and cleaned up the scattered laundry with a flick of his wand, sending it to the hamper in the corner.

When she walked back into his room, he looked over at her and his eyes widened. "Feel free to borrow my clothes anytime. You look better in them than I do, it seems," he said with a wink. She blushed furiously, and went to place her clothes with her purse and wand. "You'll be sleeping in here tonight, Mya, I'm going to kip on the couch. Is there anything else you need?"

"Oh no, I can't take your bed!" she protested. "I'll be perfectly content with sleeping on the couch."

"Absolutely not," he replied firmly. "You are a guest, and a lady, and I was raised to be a gentleman. End of discussion. I'm pretty knackered, so I think I'm going to go to sleep. Are you alright here?" he asked as he gathered up a blanket and pillow to use on the couch.

"I think I'm fine...oh, would you happen to have an owl? I should probably send a note to Molly so she doesn't worry if I'm not there when she wakes up in the morning."

"No problem, I'll take care of it on my way to the couch. You go get some sleep, young lady, you've had a long day."

"Yes sir!" she replied, with a salute. "Thanks, Gideon, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Mya," he said softly as he left the room and shut the door behind him.

-oOo-

"GOOOOOOOOOD morning, Mya!" Fabian shouted as he leaped onto his brother's bed, startling their guest awake.

"Sweet Merlin," she groaned. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to wake up!" Fabian replied with a big grin, looking down at her.

"Ughhh. _Gideon!_" she shouted. As he walked into his room, he noticed the predicament his friend was in and laughed. "Can you please remove your brother from this bed?"

Gideon smiled at her and forcibly removed Fabian from where he was perched on top of a combination of Hermione and blankets. "Sorry, Mya, should have warned you before you went to sleep. He's always been unnaturally energetic in the morning, I never understood how or why."

"Because it's a new day!" Fabian exclaimed. "New fun things to be done! Oh, and Emmy fed me coffee."

"That'll do it," Gideon said with a grin, rolling his eyes.

Hermione giggled. "Alright, well, as long as I'm awake, I should probably head back to the Burrow to try and rein in the kids, since Arthur had to go back to work today."

"The beasties can wait!" Fabian cried. "Emmy's made us breakfast, you can't leave before you've tried her waffles!" No longer being held captive by his brother, he bolted back over to the bed and started dragging Hermione out of it by her wrists. "Hurry! The heating charm can only last so long before they start to get cold!"

* * *

><p>Posted: 19 March 2012<br>Word Count: 2,744


	5. Chapter 4

A month had passed since Hermione was thrown back in time, and it almost felt as if she'd always lived in this generation. She became a staple in the lives of the Weasleys, the children growing increasingly fond of her. Molly felt spoiled having her around, as she was more than a nanny to her kids – she was like a second mum – and she wouldn't even accept any sort of payment for it. For the first time since Percy was born, Molly wasn't a ball of frazzled nerves from trying to keep up with all her children, and they were even better-behaved (for the most part), owing to their infatuation with "Miss Mya" and their desire to please her. She noticed an increase in the presence of her brothers at the Burrow, though she wrote it off as Gideon's doing – she'd never had trouble reading the signs when he fancied a girl, and this time was no different. And she even had more time for Arthur when he came home at night, owing to the kids being occupied with Mya and Molly not falling over her feet from exhaustion anymore.

There was to be an Order meeting tonight, and the Potters were bringing 3-week-old Harry along for the first time. Hermione was an emotional wreck, not knowing quite how to handle the situation. She had dragged Gideon out to Diagon Alley one day to help her find a gift for baby Harry, and ended up coming home with a stuffed mountain troll. He thought it was hilarious – especially since she had no idea how she was going to explain to James and Lily why she would have chosen such an unappealing creature for a newborn.

As it approached 8PM, she was nervously wrapping a ribbon around the troll's neck when Arthur flooed home from the Ministry. He spotted her sitting on the couch and walked over. "A troll? Who are you giving _that_ to?"

She blushed and ducked her head. "Baby Harry," she mumbled. "It has to do with my very first memory of him as my friend; even if I'm the only one who knows and appreciates the significance behind it, it makes me feel better knowing that he has a symbol of our friendship despite the giant age gap we've encountered."

Arthur nodded and smiled sadly at her. "Makes sense." He sat down beside her and placed a hand on her arm, stilling her fidgeting hands. "You're quite brave, you know, Mya. Not many people could have been thrown into this kind of situation like you have and managed to stay sane and secretive about it. It must be extremely difficult to be surrounded by people you knew in your old life, some of which had passed on, and not be able to show your familiarity with them. And to have to watch your best friends grow up decades younger than you, knowing that you'll have to wait nearly 20 years before you can even _consider_ revealing yourself to them...it's quite a feat, and you should know that we all admire you for your courage and strength – myself and Molly, Gideon and Fabian, and especially Albus. You're an extraordinary witch, and we feel like seeing you function in such a difficult situation is making us all want to be better people."

Hermione felt her eyes burning in her attempts to hold back her tears. She threw her arms around the older wizard and hugged him fiercely, finally feeling like a true member of the family. "Thank you, Arthur. Thank you _so much_. You have no idea how much those words mean to me; I finally feel like I belong here now."

Arthur gently patted her back. "Hermione," he said softly, and the use of her given name was not lost on her, "I'm pretty sure we made it clear when you first arrived here that the Burrow is somewhere you will _always_ belong, regardless of the year or the generation of Weasleys residing in it. We're glad to have you."

She smiled at him, her eyes watery, and dragged her sleeve across her face. "You're a wonderful person, Arthur Weasley."

He just smiled fondly at her and made to stand. "Alright well, I think it's time we head on over to the meeting, don't you?"

Hermione nodded, but then looked up at Arthur curiously. "Arthur, I wonder...would you be willing to do me a favour tonight?" At his questioning nod, she continued. "I think...I think I'd like to tell Lily and James about my past. I would really love to ask them if I could help them with Harry from time to time, and I feel like they would be much more receptive to the idea if they understood where I was coming from, considering that they don't really know me yet. I don't plan on telling anyone else, they'll be the last ones unless Dumbledore requests any others. Anyway, the favour is that I'd appreciate if you'd come with me when I talk to them, so they have someone they trust to verify my story..."

"Of course I will, Mya, dear," he replied. "I think that's a wonderful idea. I know being around the Potters will be good for you; it should make it less painful to think about the friends you've left behind if you have some semblance of them in your life again. Now, shall we?" he asked, extending his arm towards the floo. With her nod, they stepped into the fireplace and headed to the meeting.

-oOo-

Spotting Lily Potter as she walked into the room, Mya slipped her arm into Arthur's and made her way over to the new mother. "Hello, Mrs. Potter, I was wondering if we could have a word with you and your husband, privately."

Lily nodded at her curiously, and reached behind her to fetch her husband. She led them to an empty bedroom down the hall, and Hermione cast _Muffliato_ as James closed the door. "What can we do for you, Miss Lewis?"

"Please, call me Mya...I have something extremely confidential to share with the two of you; something only four people know, besides myself and Arthur. I just need you to swear that you won't reveal anything that's said in this room to anyone without permission first." At their confused nods, she took a deep breath, and then started to speak.

"Well, first of all, I have a gift for Harry. It's a rather unconventional one, but its significance will be explained during the course of this conversation." She handed the troll to James, as Lily was holding Harry, and he looked at it with a bemused expression.

"A mountain troll...hmm. I feel like I'm going to want to hear about this," he replied, with a light chuckle.

Hermione nodded, and then continued. "Alright. Well, first thing's first; my name is not Mya Lewis. It's Hermione Granger; Lewis is my mother's maiden name. And I was born on September 19, 1979." The Potters looked at each other, alarmed, but were stopped from responding by Hermione's continued speech. "Yes, I said 1979. Last month, an accident with a Time-Turner caused me to be thrown back in time, from the year 1998. I was staying with the Weasleys, just after the war had ended, because their son Ron was one of my best friends; but I was actually in the process of packing up and moving into my other best friend's house when the accident occurred. This best friend was named Harry James Potter."

She gave them a moment to process that, observing their bewildered expressions. She noticed they looked to Arthur for confirmation, which made her glad that she thought to bring him along. "It's true," he said firmly. "I've heard her entire story, and Dumbledore's seen her memories. There's no way she could have made it all up."

The startled couple nodded, and looked back to Hermione to continue. "Now, that being said, I cannot tell you of the future. Maybe, someday, after we defeat Voldemort, I will reveal stories of growing up with your son, but for now, secrecy is absolutely _vital_. I cannot – and will not – risk any of this information falling into the wrong hands, because if it were to make its way to Voldemort, we would lose pretty much any chance of winning this war. The only thing I _will_ tell you is that we first became friends when we were 11, when he and Ron rescued me from a fully grown mountain troll that was running loose in Hogwarts."

"The reason I wanted to tell you all of this is because I wanted to ask if I could help you with Harry from time to time. I know, deep down, that I will never return to my proper time without living out the years in between, and therefore will never regain the friendships I once had. Knowing this, and knowing I will never again know Harry as the brother I always wished for, I was hoping that if you allowed me to have a part in his life, I would still be able to have some sort of bond with him, even if its not what I'm used to and desire to have back."

Arthur, who had stayed mostly silent through the whole conversation, chose to speak up in her defence. "I would like to add that despite her situation, she has been absolutely wonderful to have around at the Burrow. Her main role at this point in time is as a secondary caregiver for my children, helping to take some of the strain off of Molly, and she is doing a marvelous job. The children have taken an absolute shining to her, and she somehow manages to get them to behave better than they ever have before. And if it is difficult for her to be around the younger versions of all the friends she had left behind – as she says she was extremely close with most of my children growing up – she doesn't let it show, but instead uses her previous knowledge of their personalities to help her connect with them on a more personal level. She's even managed to convince my brothers-in-law to come 'round more often, and spend more time with their nephews...and you know how those two are."

Lily and James looked at each other for a few moments, having a silent conversation with their eyes. "Please, you don't have to make an immediate decision," Hermione added. "Take your time, I understand it's a big decision considering we barely know each other."

James shook his head. "Mya, it would be our pleasure to have you in Harry's life, and ours. To know that our Harry will have such a kind and faithful friend growing up – as I'm sure you realize the younger version of yourself will still exist until the day you were transported – is reassuring, and if you treat our family anything like you treat the Weasleys, or how you treated your friends back in your own time, well, then, we'd be lucky to know you."

Hermione's face lit up even as her shoulders slumped in relief. Lily passed Harry to her husband and stood up, moving over to embrace Hermione in a warm hug. "For the record, Mrs. Potter," she started.

"Lily."

"Sorry, _Lily_ – everyone always spoke so highly of you when I was growing up, and my professors always told me how much I reminded them of you, that I have been looking forward to properly meeting you for as long as I can remember. This, to me, is one of the redeeming factors of my unfortunate circumstance. And you as well, James, though I daresay you'll find a certain pair of Weasleys were compared to you quite a bit more than I was," she said with a light laugh.

Arthur looked at her and smiled. "Fred and George?"

"Who else?" she replied with a wide grin.

"Well, we certainly are looking forward to getting to know you as well, Mya," Lily spoke kindly. "I have a feeling we'll be fast friends."

There was a knock on the door, and Moody's gruff voice filtered through. "I don't know what's going on in there, but the meeting's about to start. Don't be late!"

Lily and James shook Hermione's hand, and Arthur's as well, and then headed out of the room. Hermione grabbed Arthur before he could follow them, and pulled him into another hug. "I feel like a broken record, but thank you again for doing this with me. I have a feeling if you hadn't been here, it would not have gone nearly as smoothly."

He chuckled, and patted her back. "No problem, Mya. It's what I'm here for. Now let's get going into that meeting."

-oOo-

Hermione felt the sunlight streaming through the window without opening her eyes. She grabbed her wand off the end table and flicked it at the curtains, charming them closed so she could get a little more sleep. But after another ten minutes, she realized she was too awake already, so she just got up and started getting ready for the day.

She made her way downstairs, expecting to help Molly get breakfast started, but was surprised as she opened the door to the kitchen. The whole family – including the Prewetts, and even baby Ronnie – were seated at the table wearing party hats, and there was a big banner hanging on the wall. "Happy birthday, Mya!" they chorused, and a huge grin broke out on her face.

"Thank you, everyone! How did you know it was my birthday?"

"Mum remembered you telling her when you first came here," Charlie replied. "She said you're 19! That's _old!_"

"I don't even have enough fingers to count that high!" Percy exclaimed.

Arthur chuckled. "Kids, 19 isn't that old. Why, did you know Professor Dumbledore is over 100?" Five little mouths dropped open in surprise. "Yup! So our Mya here is quite young, actually."

"Thanks, Arthur, good save," she replied with a grin.

Molly came over with a plate of pancakes that had '19' written on it in whipped cream. "There you are, dear. The traditional Weasley birthday breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes. Would you like some syrup?"

Hermione sat with her adopted family and enjoyed a delicious breakfast, and before she knew it, George was tugging on her sleeve from the chair next to her. "Mya, we ma'e you a biwfday pwesn!"

"You did? Thank you!" she replied, smiling at him.

Molly reached behind her and pulled out a large rectangular package. She passed it to Hermione, and watched as she opened it. Underneath the paper was a frame, with an unusual piece of artwork inside. "This is really interesting, Molly! Who made it?"

Molly grinned. "The boys did, with my help! Each of them did their own square – see their names in the bottom left corner of each one? They drew their favorite memory of you so far. Well, except Ronnie; we just did a little paint-stamp of his feet. I put it together, and Arthur framed it and added the year on the top of the frame. We figured one big present was easier – and better – than eight little ones."

Hermione was doing her best to hold back the tears that had unfortunately made their way to the surface. "This...this is absolutely wonderful. Thank you, everyone. I think this might be the nicest, most thoughtful gift I've ever received." She got up and gave a hug to everyone she could reach, and left a kiss on Ronnie's head. "You guys are too good for me, I don't know what I'd do without you."

The Weasleys all grinned at her, and Fabian drew her attention towards himself. "As for the two of us, we decided to do a joint gift as well. We're taking you out tonight, to the Grindylow; we put together a group of some of your new friends from the Order, reserved a private room in the pub, and arranged babysitters as needed. And all your drinks are on us. We don't plan on allowing you to leave the pub until you're three sheets to the wind, and you've danced so much that your hair's frizzed back up; and then you'll be crashing at our flat so you don't wake up the whole Burrow when you get back," he finished with a wink.

Hermione smiled brightly at them; it had been too long since she got to go out with a group of people her age. She got up and hugged the two of them, thanking them in the process. This was turning out to be a great birthday already.

-oOo-

They'd been at the Grindylow for two hours already, and almost everyone in their little party had moved out onto the dance floor. Hermione had danced with Gideon, Fabian, James, Sirius, and Remus, and had just been swept off to dance with Kingsley. All of the males had kept a respectful distance from her during their dancing so far, as most of them were in committed relationships, but Kingsley seemed to be doing a bit more flirting than Gideon was comfortable watching, and he let out a low growl without realising it. Fabian, hearing his brother's unexpected aggressive sound, reached over and put his hand on Gideon's shoulder. "Gid, calm down. They're just dancing, it's not like they're out there shagging on the dance floor..."

"He's getting too handsy with her..." he growled, more conscious of the action this time.

Fabian sighed. "Merlin, Gideon, she's not your girlfriend. But if you're so upset by the way they're dancing, then do something about it!" he demanded, giving his brother a gentle shove forward.

"Maybe I will..." Gideon mumbled as he strode over to where his coworker was dancing with Hermione. He asked to cut in, and Kingsley regretfully conceded.

"Hey there, Gideon, having fun?" she asked, upon realising who her new partner was.

"Now I am," he said with a cheeky grin.

She swatted his arm and laughed lightly. "Oh you. I missed you! I haven't seen you in hours!"

"Well, you've been a little busy dancing with everyone in sight," he replied, sounding a lot more accusing than he had intended.

"Hey, don't get mad, get glad! It's my birthday, I can dance with whoever I want!" she declared with a smile. He spun her out and then back into his arms, and she laughed airily. "Oh, I love this song!" she declared. "You're my favourite dance partner, Gid."

His face broke out in a wide grin, and lowered her into a dip, so low that the ends of her hair brushed the floor. He pulled her back upright, and saw a look of pure joy on her face. If only it could be her birthday every day, so he could see her smile like that whenever he wanted...

* * *

><p>Posted: 27 March 2012<br>Word Count: 3,236


	6. Chapter 5

_**Happy birthday Fred and George!** They'd be 34 years old today...and 34's my lucky number! _

_Thank you all for the wonderful support you've all given me since the loss of my grandpa. It's meant the world to me that even though we only know each other by an alias through the computer screen, you cared enough to take the time to let me know that I was in your thoughts._

_I hope you all enjoy this chapter, because I had an absolute field day writing it :)_

* * *

><p>"Mum! I'm finished eating! Can I go put my costume on now?" Charlie pleaded, bouncing in his seat.<p>

"No, Charlie, you'll have to wait until everyone's finished eating, and then we'll all go get into our Halloween costumes together," Molly replied. He grumbled, but she stood her ground with a stern expression.

Ten minutes later, Molly set the dishes to wash themselves and the three adults headed upstairs to help the younger kids get into their costumes. As they were getting ready, their uncles flooed into the Burrow, so Molly sent them down as each one finished dressing.

Charlie zipped down the stairs and barreled into one of his uncles. "Hey Fab! Hey Gid!"

"Oh look, we've got ourselves a cowboy!" Gideon exclaimed. "Where's your trusty steed?"

Charlie giggled and pointed at Fabian. "Right there!"

Fabian grabbed him and started tickling him, until Billy came down the stairs and caught their attention. "Hey Uncle Gid! Uncle Fab! What are you guys supposed to be?"

"I'm a house-elf, of course!" Gideon proclaimed proudly. "And as for my brother over there, he says he's a muggle clown, though I think Charlie's trying to convince him to be his horse... What do you think, like my elf ears?"

"Very cool, Uncle Gid, you'd be a perfect house elf if you were about five feet shorter," he said with a grin. "Can you tell what I am?"

"It seems to me as if you're trying to be Mad-Eye Moody, if the eye and peg leg are any indication..." he replied.

Billy grinned even wider. "Right you are! CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Oh, just wait 'til you see Fred and George! I think their costumes are the best."

Just as he said that, a little purple and white blur came zooming towards them. "Unca Fab!" Fred shouted, latching onto his uncle's leg.

The Prewett brothers burst out in riotous laughter, seeing the mini-Dumbledore grinning up at them from his sparkly purple robes and half-moon spectacles. "Oh Merlin, Freddy, what a beard! I've never seen a two-year-old grow such an impressive one!" Fabian said.

Fred giggled and grabbed his uncle's hand, bringing it to his beard. "No, siwwy, is not a _weal_ beawd!"

Fabian gasped. "It's not? Wow, you really had me fooled for a minute there!"

George came thundering down the steps, in a costume exactly matching Fred's, and pulling Hermione behind him by the hand. "And there's our other Dumbledore! You think _his_ beard is real, Fab?"

George grinned widely and ran over to embrace his uncle, leaving Hermione behind at the stairs. "Wow, guys, those are...interesting...costumes! Where'd you get the idea for a muggle clown, Fabian?"

"Lily Potter. She told me it matched my personality," he replied.

Hermione chuckled, shaking her head. "She's not wrong," she said with a wink.

"So, Mya, what are you supposed to be?" Gideon asked.

"I'm a muggle superhero, Wonder Woman!" she replied. "And speaking of which, have you seen my Invisible Plane? I seem to have misplaced it..."

Billy and Charlie got a laugh at this one, along with their uncles, being the only kids old enough to get the joke – despite the fact that they didn't know what a plane was.

Molly and Arthur finally came down the stairs, little Ronnie the pumpkin in arms, and following Percy. "All rise for the Minister of Magic, the honourable Percy Weasley!" Arthur called as his third eldest entered the room.

"Oh my! Can I get a photo with you, Minister?" Hermione called, curtsying towards Percy.

Gideon looked over at his sister and smiled knowingly. "Let me guess, Moll – Celestina again?"

"Of course she's Celestina," Fabian replied, "she always is. The real question is, what is Arthur?"

"I'm a muggle pleaz-man!" he announced proudly, puffing out his chest.

Hermione just giggled at that and corrected him with a smile. "_Police_man, Arthur. Alright, Weasleys and Prewetts, gather in front of the fireplace for a photo!" she called, charming her camera to hover in front of her. She went over to the family and took her spot amongst them, then waved her wand at the camera to make it take their picture. After that, she took individual photos of everyone in their costumes, and then the whole family flooed over to the Three Broomsticks so they could Trick-Or-Treat their way through Hogsmeade.

-oOo-

Upon returning to the Burrow, none of the kids were ready to call it a night – and neither were most of the adults. Hermione pulled Molly aside and whispered a suggestion to her. "Molly, do you think maybe the kids could have a sleepover in the sitting room tonight? I'll stay to supervise, and I'll talk your brothers into it too. It'll give you and Arthur some well-deserved time to yourselves."

Molly seemed to think on this, took a thoughtful glance at her husband, and then nodded. "As long as you monitor their candy intake, and make sure they go to sleep at a reasonable hour, it should be fine. Hey, boys!" she shouted, turning towards her sons in the sitting room, where they were starting to remove some of their costumes. "If you ask your uncles really nicely, and they agree, then you can all have a sleepover tonight in the sitting room. How does that sound?"

The five boys broke out in a frenzy, all bolting over to their uncles to beg them to stay. "Pwease stay, Unca Gid!" Fred pleaded up towards his uncle, from where he was tugging on the hem of Gideon's costume.

"We' shawe ou' ca'dy!" George added, from his uncle's other side.

Gideon looked over at his brother. "Whaddaya think, Fab? Should we stay?"

"I dunno...I think we should only agree if Mya is gonna be there," he replied teasingly.

Hermione grinned at the two, knowing they'd already made up their minds and were just winding up the kids. "Of course I'll be there – it was my idea in the first place!"

"WE'RE IN!" the two brothers proclaimed together, and the Weasley kids all cheered.

"Okay, boys, you need to go upstairs and change into your pyjamas, and then come back downstairs with your sleeping bags. Leave your candy here, and we'll do a Candy Swap once we're all back here!" Hermione announced. "Fred, George, don't take off your costumes yet. Molly, can I please bring them to Hogwarts to show Albus their costumes? I think it would make his day."

Molly grinned, and Arthur chuckled. "Sure, go ahead. Just make sure you hold them both when you floo."

"Thanks!" Hermione said. Turning to Gideon and Fabian, she instructed them on their jobs. "Okay, I need one of you to go home and get whatever you need for the sleepover, and the other to go with me to muggle London to get a few things. Would you mind?"

Fabian shook his head. "Nah, no problem. I'll go grab the stuff from our flat, you can go with Mya, Gid." Gideon smiled his agreement, and his brother apparated away.

Hermione grabbed a bit of floo powder and stuck her head in the grate, calling out, "Hogwarts, Headmaster's office!" Her head reappeared in Dumbledore's fire. "Hello Albus, do you have a moment?"

"Miss Lewis! I wasn't expecting any visitors tonight. How can I help you?"

She grinned impishly. "I can't stay long, but I have something I'd like to show you that's rather time-sensitive. Can I come through?"

"Of course," he replied.

She pulled her head back through into the sitting room of the Burrow, checked to make sure her camera was still in her pocket, and turned to the younger twins. "Fred? George? How would you like to go to Hogwarts to surprise Professor Dumbledore with your costumes? I can take a picture of the three of you together if you'd like..."

Their small faces immediately lit up, and they ran over to her. She chuckled and lifted them up, settling one of the boys onto each of her hips, and then cast a disillusionment charm on the twins to make it more of a surprise. Stepping into the fireplace, she threw down a pinch of floo powder and spoke their destination, whirling away in the green flames. When she reappeared at Hogwarts, she found that they had been joined by Professors McGonagall and Flitwick as well. She set the boys down onto their feet in a place where everyone could see, and whispered to them not to move just yet. "I present to you, your Halloween treat," she announced, and lifted the disillusionment charm from the twins.

Dumbledore broke out into a wide smile and chuckled heartily, clapping his approval. The twinkle in his eyes was brighter than ever, and he smiled even wider when he saw Minerva and Filius trying to hide their laughter behind their hands. "Oh, is this ever a lovely surprise!" he exclaimed. "Hello, George, Fred, you have lovely costumes! Did you pick those out yourselves?"

The twins beamed at him and nodded. "We fink you' da coowest, Miste' Dubbedowe!" Fred proclaimed.

Mya grinned at the obvious joy on the Headmaster's face. "I brought a camera, Albus, would you like to take a picture with them? I can owl it to you after I develop it."

"That would be great, Miss Lewis, thank you." He strode over to where the boys were standing, and they settled on either side of him. She took the picture, and the boys laughed and hugged the aged man's legs.

"Alright, it's time for these little monsters to go home so we can get ready for our sleepover. It was lovely seeing you all, I'll owl over the picture once I get a chance to develop it. Oh, and do you think Alastor would like a picture of his mini-me? Billy dressed up as him this year," Hermione asked.

"I think he would find it quite amusing, even if he'd never admit it," he replied with a grin. "Thank you for my lovely surprise, all three of you – I think this may be my favourite Halloween yet!"

"Y'wecome!" the twins replied.

"It was no problem at all. Albus, Minerva, Filius; have a good night! I hope to see you all soon," Hermione said as she lifted the boys up again and placed them back on her hips. She stepped into the fire and flooed back to the Burrow. When she exited the grate, she lowered the twins back down onto the floor and shooed them upstairs to go get ready for the night.

"Hey, Mya, ready to go?" Gideon asked, stepping up to her.

"As long as you don't mind going into London in your costume!" she replied with a cheeky grin. She hooked her arm into his, and apparated them into an alley in muggle London. "Okay, we need to find a supermarket and a toy store, hopefully there will be at least one that's still open," she said. He nodded, and they set off on their mission.

-oOo-

They returned to the Burrow with a few bags in hand, and Hermione went upstairs to change into her pyjamas. Gideon walked over to Percy, who was playing Exploding Snap with Charlie on the floor. "Hey Perce, would you mind if I borrowed your bedroom for a few minutes to change into my pyjamas?" Seeing his nephew nod, he thanked him and went upstairs. A few minutes later, he met Hermione on the stairs and they walked down to the sitting room together.

"Okay, boys, are you ready for some fun?" she asked. A chorus of "yes!" rang out from the kids as they formed a circle on the floor with the three adults. "Alright, we're going to do a Candy Swap. Everyone grab their candy bag and spread out. Once you have your own space, dump your candy in front of you and sort it out into two piles: one you want to keep, and one you want to trade." The boys immediately got to work, and Hermione chuckled lightly at the look of concentration on their faces; at their age, candy was serious business. Once the last of them finished, she instructed them to put their 'keep' pile back into their bags, and turned to Billy. "Now, Billy, as the eldest, it's your job to start out the swap. Choose one piece of candy from your pile, and tell us what it is."

He looked down at his pile thoughtfully and selected. "Cockroach Clusters."

"Alright, if you want to trade Billy for his Cockroach Clusters, raise your hand," Hermione said, and only Charlie responded. "Okay, Charlie, what piece of candy would you like to offer Billy for his?" she asked.

"Droobles," he replied, holding up a piece of the gum.

Billy nodded enthusiastically, and the two brothers traded their candy with big smiles on their faces. "Excellent! So that's how the Candy Swap works. We'll go one by one from here, going in order from oldest to youngest," Hermione said. About twenty minutes later, the last piece of candy was traded, and the kids were all enthused to not have any candy they disliked.

"What next?" Charlie asked.

"Well, Mya and I went out into muggle London and got a few muggle games for you to try. Why don't you ask her to teach them to you?" Gideon responded.

Hermione summoned the bag from the toy store and pulled out the games one by one, explaining what each one was as she presented it to them. "So which one would you like to play?"

It ended up with Billy, Charlie, Gideon and Fabian playing Uno, and Hermione settled into _Chutes and Ladders_ with Percy and the twins. They moved on to other games after awhile, such as _Candyland_ and _Go Fish_, until eventually, the kids tired of games. They decided they wanted to have story time, so Hermione had them all lay out their sleeping bags (and the three adults each summoned one for themselves), and they got cozy on their makeshift bedding while she pulled the popcorn out of the bag and popped it with a heating charm. Each with their own little bowl of popcorn, George curled up in Hermione's lap, Fred leaned against Percy, his older brother's arm wrapped around his shoulder, and Fabian rocked baby Ronnie gently in his arms. Billy and Charlie were lying on their stomachs side-by-side, with their chins propped up by their elbows and their feet sticking up in the air.

"Tell us about Hogwarts!" Billy called out. "Did you have any cool adventures?"

Gideon and Fabian shared a few stories from their time in the castle, and then the boys looked to Hermione.

"What about you, Mya? Did you do anything fun in school?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, you wouldn't even believe some of the things I got up to when I was in school," she replied, grinning. She started telling them about some of her adventures with Harry and 'Roonil' at school, leaving out any details that were too specific, and the boys were absolutely enraptured. They could hardly believe that this nice, well-behaved girl could get into so much trouble!

"You really flew on a hippogriff?" Billy asked.

"And a DRAGON?" Charlie exclaimed. "That's my life dream!"

Hermione nodded. "I've ridden both. I've also ridden a thestral – twice – though I thankfully couldn't see it either time."

"What other kinds of animals did you meet?" Percy asked, curious to learn about more magical creatures that he'd barely heard mention of in the past.

"Well, let's see...I escaped a werewolf, was petrified by a basilisk, rescued by a house elf, faced a boggart, saved a friend from dementors, battled a mountain troll, encountered acromantula, befriended a giant, had a discussion with a centaur, walked a blast-ended skrewt on a leash, captured a cage full of Cornish pixies, tackled a doxy infestation, went to a ghost's deathday party, and shared a house with a goblin. I think that's everything..." she tapered off, thinking.

"Wow..." Charlie breathed, clearly in awe of this young witch's experiences. "I wish I could meet that many magical creatures!"

"Did I tell you I also dated an international quidditch star?" she asked teasingly, with a wink.

"You WHAT?" Gideon exclaimed. "How did you manage _that_ one?"

"He played for his national team while he was still a student, and his school came to visit mine for a tournament. We met in the library; he was quite the gentleman," she replied.

"Sweet Merlin, you've had a crazy life!" Fabian said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You'd better believe it! Your lives will _not_ be boring if you keep me around," she replied cheekily. She got up to go to the loo, and when she came back, she found Gideon and Fabian telling the boys stories about growing up with their mum. She looked to see where George went, in case he wanted to sit with her again, and saw him and Fred curled up together in the armchair, fast asleep. She smiled warmly, and pulled out her camera to take a picture. She turned back to the older boys and found Percy nodding off and Charlie rubbing his eyes. When Fabian finished the story he had been telling, she cleared her throat to get their attention. "Alright, boys, I think it's time for bed. If anyone needs to use the loo, go now so you don't accidentally wake anyone up in the middle of the night." She made her way to the armchair and scooped up Fred, placing him in his sleeping bag, then went back to get George and do the same. She scooted their bags together, knowing they liked to stay close to one another, and slipped Mr. Porkington between the two. Fabian put baby Ronnie in his crib and covered him with a small blanket, and then set up his sleeping bag nearby so he could easily tend to him if he woke up. Hermione zipped Charlie into his sleeping bag and saw Gideon doing the same for Percy, and then checked on Billy to make sure he was all set. Once it seemed like all the boys were settled in for the night, she went around and kissed them all on the forehead, and then climbed inside her own sleeping bag between Percy and Gideon, waving her wand to extinguish the lights.

An hour or so later, Hermione woke up to find herself shivering from the cold. She must have rustled around in her bedding too much, because she heard Gideon stir beside her. "Mya? You alright?" he whispered, his voice gruff from sleep.

"Mhmm," she replied quietly, "just cold."

"C'mere, I can fix that." He unzipped the long side of his sleeping bag, then reached over and did the same to hers. He grasped both sides of her bag and pulled it (with her inside) close enough for their sleeping bags to overlap. "There. Body heat works better than blankets."

She blushed, but scooted closer to him to share in his warmth, falling back asleep much more quickly now that she was starting to feel nice and toasty.

-oOo-

When Molly woke the next morning, the whole house was unnaturally quiet. She padded down the stairs to survey what damage the sugar-loaded boys had caused the night before, and was surprised to see the sitting room relatively tidy, with only a slight scattering of popcorn and a few candy wrappers here and there. Her eyes swept over each of her sleeping boys, then settled on Fabian lying next to an empty crib, Ronnie sleeping on his chest halfway beneath the sleeping bag. She smiled warmly at the sweet scene, and pulled her old camera out of its nook in the kitchen to capture the moment for posterity. She then noticed there seemed to be one sleeping bag missing, but realized her mistake when she spotted Hermione snuggled up to Gideon's side inside their makeshift double sleeping bag. She nearly squealed with joy, but caught herself so as to not wake anyone, and allowed herself a wide grin instead. Her eyes sparkled impishly, and she put her camera to good use again to show Arthur what she had stumbled upon later. Oh, how she hoped something would happen between those two. They were good for each other, and she would love to have Mya become a real member of the family, even after only knowing her for a few short months...maybe she'd do a little meddling to help further this along...

* * *

><p>Posted: 1 April 2012<br>Word Count: 3,523


	7. Chapter 6

_I like to think of this story as similar to the weather in Florida. It could be sunny in your front yard, raining in your backyard, and hailing at the neighbor's - things can change at any moment ;)_

* * *

><p>It was November 15, and Hermione was currently getting dressed after a quick shower before heading over to an Order meeting. She had agreed to meet with Albus beforehand to plan out the acquisition and destruction of the first two horcruxes, and wanted to make sure she got there early enough.<p>

Stepping out of the floo at Bones Manor, she headed over to Dumbledore. Noticing her arrival, he excused himself from his conversation with Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon and led Hermione over to an empty room. Closing the door, he set locking and silencing wards, and they discussed their plan of action.

The first horcrux to be collected was the Gaunt family ring. Dumbledore would make that journey alone, while Hermione hung back at Hogwarts and searched the Room of Requirement for Ravenclaw's diadem. They would meet back in his office once they were both successful, and then head out together to a well-secured, unused room in the dungeons to destroy the two objects.

Once they finished their planning, they set a date for the following weekend to put the plan into action, and then headed back into the sitting room to join the rest of the gathering Order. Taking his place at the front of the room, Albus called the meeting to order. "Welcome, everyone, to another meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. We have two orders of business today, but I need to start out by sharing a bit of unfortunate news. It is with the deepest regret that I must inform you of the loss of Charlus and Dorea Potter. They were defeated by the Dark Lord himself, after refusing one too many times to join his ranks. They are not our only loss, however. We have just recently learned that, as Caradoc Dearborn has been missing for three months, he has been officially declared deceased by the Ministry as of yesterday – though they have not yet found a body. Let us have a moment of silence for our fallen, and reflect on our good memories of them, and their courage, strength, and bravery in the face of evil."

Hermione looked over to see James with red-rimmed, puffy eyes, holding tightly to Lily's hand. Sirius was sitting on his other side, seeking similar comfort in the arms of his girlfriend Marlene; he had considered the Potters to be his surrogate parents after running away from home and being taken in by them when he was sixteen. Remus sat quietly beside them, cradling a sleeping Harry. He seemed to be hugging the baby a little closer to himself than he normally would, in lieu of having someone to hold him like his two friends did. While he did not have as strong a bond with the elder Potters as Sirius, he still had a good relationship with them due to his close friendship with James, and had greatly respected and admired them.

"Thank you. Always remember them as they lived, not as they died, and cherish the fond memories you have of them. Celebrate them as heroes, for they died an honourable death, fighting for a better, more peaceful world," Dumbledore concluded. "And now, for our business. We have gotten wind of a potential upcoming attack on Hogsmeade, and will need volunteers to form a team and defend the village." He observed the people that raised their hands, and selected a team he felt would be the strongest line of defence for the little town. "Second, as always, if anyone has someone in mind to be considered for the Order, please come up to me after we adjourn to discuss them. I am always accepting recommendations. And finally, for anyone wondering about the arrangements for the Potters, I will be sending out the details for the service by owl within the next few days. We will be having a small memorial service for Caradoc in the parlor after the meeting, for anyone that wants to send him off properly. If there is no other business to be discussed, this meeting is adjourned." Seeing none, he clapped his hands and stood from his seat, causing the rest of the room to start rising from their own.

Hermione made a beeline for James and Lily, sweeping the former up in a firm hug and whispering her condolences in his ear. She hugged Lily as well, and then pulled back and took a hold of her hands. "Lily, I'd like to make an offer. I don't need an answer right away, but I'd like you to think about it and let me know before you leave tonight." She nodded, and Hermione continued. "I'd like to watch Harry for a few days. Losing a family member is hard enough, but it's even harder when it's a parent. Having to care for a newborn baby in the process will make it so much more complicated; your number one priority right now should be helping your husband through his initial grief. I'd like to offer what help I can give by taking care of Harry for you so you can focus on supporting James, and helping him with the arrangements that need to be made. I know it will be hard to part with your young son for an extended period of time, but I really think it will be in your best interest to be able to put all your energy towards healing James."

Lily looked at Hermione pensively. "I appreciate your offer, Mya. Let me speak to James about it, and I'll let you know soon."

Hermione nodded her agreement, dropped Lily's hands, and went to offer her condolences to Sirius and Remus as well. After speaking with all of the present Marauders, she looked across the room to see Minerva McGonagall sitting quietly by herself, staring blankly at a spot on the wall. Hermione made her way over to her former professor and sat down beside her, placing a hand on her arm in silent comfort. Minerva placed her other hand on top of Hermione's where it rested on her arm, and a few minutes later, she spoke. "She was my dorm mate at Hogwarts," she said softly. "We were absolutely inseparable in our youth. She was a wonderful woman; a brilliant mind, and a fierce, loving friend. She deserved so many more years than she was given."

Hermione smiled sadly at the older woman and reached out to put an arm around her. Minerva leaned her head onto Hermione's shoulder in a rare display of tenderness, and held the hand Hermione had settled on her lap. The two just sat there in silence for awhile, one seeking comfort in a friend, and the other grateful to finally be able to return some of the support she'd been given by her favourite professor over the years.

"Minerva, I'm going to head back to Hogwarts for a late dinner in the kitchens. Would you care to join me?" Albus queried gently as he calmly approached his long-time coworker. Minerva sat up slowly, and turned to Hermione to hug her and whisper her thanks. She smiled warmly at the younger witch as she pulled away, took a deep breath, and assumed her normal stern stature as she accepted the hand Albus extended to her to help her stand.

Hermione got up once they'd left. She poured two cups of tea, then walked over to stand beside Gideon where she had spotted him leaning against the counter reflectively. She stood close enough for him to feel her brush up against his side, and she pushed the second cup of tea towards his hands. "Are you alright, Gid?"

He turned to look at her as he wrapped his hands around the teacup, nodding his thanks. He took a sip, and then looked down into his cup for a moment before speaking. "We grew up down the road from the Potters, you know. In Godric's Hollow. We spent a lot of afternoons running around our backyard with James, or flying our brooms around the paddock by his house. The Potters were lovely people, always taking the time to ask us how we were doing, offer tips on improving our flying, bring us biscuits and lemonade, those kinds of things. I always wondered why they were so much older than my own parents, even though we were the same age as James, but it never stopped them from engaging themselves in all sorts of different activities with us, so I wasn't really too concerned by it. It's sad to think that most of Molly's kids will grow up never having known amazing people like Charlus and Dorea."

Hermione placed her hand between his shoulder blades, and rubbed her thumb softly across his upper back. "They may not get to know the Potters, but that doesn't mean they won't experience that type of warmth and acceptance from adults other than their parents. They have you and Fabian. You're wonderful with them, you know. They absolutely adore you. You treat them kindly, you engage their creativity and imagination when you play with them, you give them a shoulder to lean on when they're down, and you help them learn about the world through a second set of eyes. You and your brother are their Charlus and Dorea, Gideon. I think they'll grow up just fine."

His eyes burned with unshed tears as he tried to hide the evidence of his emotions. He swept Hermione up into a tight hug, resting his chin on top of her head, and just held her for a moment. Pulling away, he looked her in the eyes and tried to convey his gratitude. "Thank you, Mya. That was the kindest thing anyone's ever said to me. You might be on to something; those kids _do_ seem to like their uncles an awful lot. And if nothing else, they do have _you_, too. Yeah, they'll turn out alright..."

They turned back to face the counter and resumed the positions they started in, each turning their teacup around in their hands. "So, did you hear the one about the unicorn that walked into the bar?"

She laughed at the sudden topic change, bumping his shoulder as the mood lightened considerably. They stood there talking for a little while, until Lily and James approached them. "Mya," Lily said, "we discussed your offer, and if it still stands, we'd like to accept. It can't hurt to try, and if we find that we can't handle being away from him just yet, we can always come and pick him up early."

"Of course! It's no problem. I think Molly has a spare crib in the attic from when the twins were babies. I'll set it up in my room so I can keep an eye on him at night and not make him share a room with Ronnie, who tends to get fussy in his sleep."

"You are wonderful, Mya. Thank you so much," James said softly, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "We really do appreciate you doing this."

"No need to thank me, it's what friends do. Now, how about we put together a list of things I need to know about his daily routine, and then I'll get him from Remus before I head home? I should probably head out soon anyway, I'm sure Molly could use my help getting the kids into bed," she replied.

Lily pulled a piece of parchment out of her purse and grabbed a quill off of the counter, and started writing down Harry's schedule as James talked quietly with Gideon a few feet away. Once she was finished, she handed Harry's nappy bag over to Hermione and thanked her again. "I'll put together a few days worth of clothes and supplies for Harry when I get home, and I'll floo over to the Burrow before the end of the night so I can get it to you. Our floo address is 'Potter Cottage;' don't hesitate to call on us if you need anything."

Hermione nodded her agreement, and Lily took James' hand to head home. Hermione turned to the two brothers beside her, Fabian having appeared sometime in the last few minutes. "I'm gonna go take Harry from Remus and then head back to the Burrow. Are you guys coming over to say goodnight to the boys, or just heading back to your flat?"

"We'll come with you," Fabian said, reaching over to take the nappy bag from her shoulder. "I'll carry this for you so you only have to worry about Harry when you floo."

She smiled in thanks, and went to collect Harry from Remus, the twins following close behind. Once she had the baby in her arms, the three headed to the fireplace to floo back to the Burrow.

-oOo-

Hermione climbed the stairs of the Burrow after Lily had flooed over a bag of Harry's things and, checking that all the Weasley boys were settled into bed, she climbed the rest of the way to her room. She looked in on Harry, who was watching the mobile above his head, and then flopped down on her bed to read the list of things she needed to remember for taking care of Harry. She chuckled when she reached the fifth item on the list; apparently, Harry wouldn't go to sleep without the troll she had given him. Once she had finished reading the list, she grinned as she pulled the toy out of the bag, placing it in the crib beside the baby. An adorable smile lit up his face as he saw it, and he grabbed it by the club with his tiny fist and dragged it closer to himself. She stood next to the crib and just watched Harry as he made his little baby noises and played with his own fingers, and felt more content than she had in a long time, despite the tugging feeling in her heart. When he realized she was watching him, he looked up into her eyes and smiled. In that moment, she swore to herself that she would end this war, and make sure he got the chance to grow up with his parents.

-oOo-

It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and Hermione was wrapping the last of her gifts before heading over to Gideon and Fabian's to finish making Molly's present. She'd realized, upon watching Molly make her annual Christmas sweaters, that she'd never seen the Weasley matriarch wear one herself, so she'd decided to make one for her this year. Because it took so much time to knit, she'd taken to working on it at the twins' flat while the younger kids took their naps to keep it a surprise.

She flooed over to their flat and announced her arrival. Gideon called out that he was in the kitchen, so she set her enchanted knitting needles to work in the sitting room before making her way in to see him. She found him attempting to bake biscuits, though all he seemed to be making was a mess.

"Thank Merlin you're here! I could use some help with this," he pleaded as he heard her walk into the room.

She set to work helping him mix the batter, and they put a successful batch in the oven before he attempted to make one on his own again, following the steps she'd shown him during the first batch. Before he'd even made it to the first step, he managed to make the flour explode all over the kitchen. "Sweet Morgana!" she shouted, blinking after the flour settled and seeing it covering the two of them from head to toe. He looked at her and laughed as he wiped his face off. "Oh you think this is funny, do you?" she asked. "Well, how funny is it _now_?" She brought her hands up to his hair, ruffled it a bit, and wiped all the flour that had coated her hands from it down back onto his newly-clean face. This only caused the start of an all-out food war, using all the ingredients set aside for baking (and then some!). At one point, Gideon somehow managed to get his hands on a bottle of chocolate syrup and squirted it on Hermione's head, where it dripped down onto her face and neck. She wiped some of it off with her hand, and then reached forward to run her chocolate-covered fingers across Gideon's cheek, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed her wrist, intercepting her hand, and tried to lick the chocolate off of her fingers before they could reach his face of their own accord.

He looked up into her eyes as he ate the chocolate off of her digits, and saw her staring longingly at his actions, unsure if she even realized she was doing it. Hoping he was reading her emotions clearly, he lowered their hands and leaned in to slowly lick the remaining chocolate off of her cheek. As his tongue connected with the soft skin of her face, he felt her body practically melt, and she let out a soft sigh. Encouraged, he gradually moved his ministrations closer in to her mouth as he followed the line of chocolate, and finally, reaching her lips, he kissed her.

She didn't even waste a second before she was kissing him back. The two indulged in their chocolate-flavoured first kiss as they stood in the middle of the kitchen, covered in food, until they were rudely interrupted by the arrival of Gideon's twin.

"Hey Gid, have you finished -" Fabian stopped short as he entered the kitchen, eyes widening at the scene in front of him. He started to chuckle as the two jumped apart in surprise, staring guiltily at him. "It's about damn time!" he shouted, smiling widely and throwing his hands up in the air. "I thought you two would _never_ get your act together! So, when did this happen?"

Hermione blushed and buried her face in Gideon's shoulder. "Just now, actually. We haven't exactly had a chance to talk about it yet," he replied sheepishly.

"Oh! Well, then. I guess I'll leave you two to have your chat," Fabian said as he turned around and exited the kitchen, smiling broadly.

-oOo-

That evening, Hermione returned to the Burrow with the Prewett brothers, just in time for dinner. After coming through the floo, Fabian immediately went off to find Arthur while Gideon and Hermione entered the kitchen hand-in-hand to drop off the biscuits they had eventually finished baking. Molly greeted them without turning around to face them. Once she finally turned, she paused mid-sentence and squealed as she noticed their linked hands. "Oh! When did this happen?" she exclaimed.

"Just this afternoon," Hermione replied sheepishly. "You actually have those biscuits to thank for it..." Gideon grinned at her remark.

"How wonderful!" Molly replied. "That's the best Christmas present I've gotten in awhile."

Gideon replied with an even wider grin than before, making Hermione blush with his declaration of, "Me too." She showed her appreciation with a chaste kiss, just as Percy walked into the room.

"Mya, why'd ya kiss Uncle Gid? There's no mistletoe!" he asked innocently.

"Well, Percy, when two grown-ups really like each other, that's how they show their affection," Hermione replied kindly, with a smile.

"Like Mum and Dad?" he continued.

"Yep, just like Mum and Dad," Gideon answered.

"Oh. Are you gonna get married, then?"

Molly tried to hide her laughter behind her hand as Hermione blushed to the tips of her ears. Gideon just chuckled as he replied, "We haven't talked about that yet, kiddo. She only just agreed to be my girlfriend today, we're going to wait awhile before we talk about getting married." He ruffled his nephew's hair, passed him one of the smaller biscuits, and lightly pushed him towards the door. "Why don't you go round up your brothers and wash up for dinner while we help your mum finish up the cooking? Looks like we'll be eating soon."

Percy smiled and nodded, and then ran out the door yelling for his brothers. "CHARLIE! BILLY! GUESS WHAT I JUST FOUND OUT!" The adults all grinned, and Hermione put her hand up to her forehead.

"Well, I guess they would have found out sometime tonight anyway. Can't hurt to know earlier than planned, I suppose," she said thoughtfully, shrugging.

Molly smirked and turned towards her brother's new girlfriend. "I think you may encounter two less-than-thrilled toddlers in a few minutes, though, once they hear the news from Percy and realize they'll have to fight for your affections from now on..."

True to her word, two little ginger rockets flew into the kitchen and wrapped their arms around Hermione's legs. "MYA! You' mawwyin' Unca Gid?" Fred cried with a look of disappointment on his face.

She laughed lightly and swatted Gideon as he broke out into bellowing laughter. "No, Freddy, we're just dating right now. If we get married, it won't be for a long time."

"Good," George replied with a sigh of relief. "I kin stiw keep pwannin' how to git you ta mawwy _me_ i'stead!" he exclaimed brightly.

"Now boys, don't you go stealing my girlfriend..."Gideon admonished, shaking his finger as he squatted down to their level, trying to hide his amusement. "We wouldn't want to have to tell Santa not to visit, would we?"

The twins' faces broke out in equal expressions of horror, and they ran off out of the kitchen muttering about staying away from Mya until after Christmas.

-oOo-

Later that night, after dinner, the Weasleys and Prewetts, along with Hermione and Emmeline, settled into the sitting room to enjoy some minty hot chocolate and family time. Everyone was lost in discussion except Fabian and Emmeline, who were quietly cuddled up on the couch, enjoying their remaining time at the Burrow as they'd be going to the Vances' for Christmas Day. Fabian sat up quickly as he realized something, and turned to his girlfriend to share his thoughts. "Emmy! Do you remember that bet we made back in July, when we were at the Grindylow?"

Emmeline thought to herself for a moment before recognition gleamed in her eyes. "I do now. And it seems you've won. We didn't ever set the terms, though, did we?"

Fabian shook his head. "No, we didn't. But I know exactly what I want for my prize," he replied, while stealthily slipping his hand into his pocket and wrapping it around something inside.

Emmeline cocked her head to the side in question. "Oh? And what's that?"

Her breath caught and the entire room went silent as he slipped off the couch and got down on one knee in front of her, taking her left hand in one of his own. "Marry me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Emmeline Audrey Vance. Say you'll be my wife."

She threw herself at him in a tight hug, her eyes brimming with tears. "Of course I will, you great oaf!" she cried, breaking away to kiss him all over his face. He opened the box that had appeared from his pocket and pulled out a ring, took her left hand, and slid it onto her fourth finger. She looked down at it and her breath caught. "Oh Fab, it's beautiful," she breathed out quietly, and grabbed his face to kiss him fiercely.

The rest of the Burrow's occupants broke out in cheers. "Congratulations, brother!" Gideon exclaimed, getting up to clap his twin on the back and hug his future sister-in-law. "And welcome to the family, love."

Molly lifted baby Ronnie out of her arms and onto Arthur's lap, and stood quickly to engulf her little brother in one of her infamous bear hugs. "Oh Fab! First Gideon and Mya, and now this? You've made this the best Christmas ever, I'm so thrilled for you! You couldn't have picked a better woman."

Meanwhile, Hermione had gotten up to congratulate Emmeline, who pulled away from her hug quickly and held Hermione in front of her by the shoulders. "I'd like you to be in the wedding, Mya, as one of my bridesmaids. What do you say?"

Hermione grinned widely at her. "I'd be honoured!"

Arthur stood up and shifted Ronnie onto one of his hips. "I think this calls for a celebration!" He made his way over to the wireless and turned to a channel notorious for its frequent dance music, and all the kids started bouncing around the room, doing their version of dancing. The adults all joined in, grabbing the hands of one of the boys, and attempted to dance like their miniature partners. Arthur, who was doing his own version of dancing with Ronnie in his arms, went to the kitchen to get Molly's camera, and started taking photos of the joyous occasion. He knew this would be one Christmas they would always remember.

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><p>Posted: 8 April 2012<br>Word Count: 4,234


	8. Chapter 7

_Big love to **ravenclawlove** and **ahookedreader** - their reviews always make me feel like a million bucks :D  
><em>_Also, a very big THANK YOU! to **Seasrmar** - I'm honored that you would go out of your way to create an account just so you could review my story! Plus, your comments were helpful, and much appreciated :)_

_And finally, - I promise this is relevant - I made my first poll! It's about the original OotP. Go check it out on my profile and vote, please! You can pick up to 5 different people._

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><p>New Years had come and passed, and it was already nearly February. Hermione was snuggled up to Gideon on the couch in his flat, reading with him under a thick blanket, when a lynx patronus appeared in the middle of the sitting room. "Attack in Surrey, all hands on deck!" Kingsley's voice boomed, and then finished with the coordinates for them to apparate to.<p>

Gideon jumped off the couch and ran to his brother's room. "Fab! Grab your robes, they're summoning all the Aurors to an attack in Surrey!" He ran to his own room and grabbed his wand and Auror garb, shrugging the robes on as he strode back into the sitting room.

"Please be careful," Hermione whispered as he took her face in his hands to kiss her. When he drew back after a few moments, she looked at him with demanding eyes. "I have a bad feeling about this, Gid. Remember what I told you about Dolohov...I know you prefer to stun and not kill, but if you see him, PLEASE don't hesitate to take him out. I need you to come back to me alive, Fabian too."

He nodded. "I will. I need you to go back to the Burrow; I don't want you waiting here by yourself. Try not to worry Molly too much, though – she doesn't need any extra stress at this point in her pregnancy. As soon as we're done in Surrey, Fab and I will go to the Burrow to let you know we're alright." When he saw her nod her agreement, he leaned in and kissed her swiftly once more. "I promise I will come back to you."

She hugged him tightly and then wrung her hands as he strode over his brother and told him the coordinates, preparing to apparate. As they twisted into the air and disappeared, she flopped back onto the couch for a moment to collect herself before flooing to the Burrow.

Her arrival in the sitting room took Molly by surprise, as she wasn't expecting her back so soon. "Mya! Why are you back so early? Is everything alright?"

Hermione nodded, and sat beside her on the couch. "There was an attack in Surrey; they called out all the Aurors to help settle things. Don't worry yourself, though, it didn't sound too bad." She felt bad lying about the last part, but knew the health of Molly and her unborn baby were more important than letting her fret.

Molly hummed her acknowledgment and turned back to her knitting after patting Hermione on the shoulder.

-oOo-

Meanwhile, in Surrey, Gideon and Fabian apparated in to find a bloodbath. There were muggles lying everywhere, either dead or dying, and one set of felled Auror robes visible among them, who they later identified as Benjy Fenwick. Gideon turned to his brother to remind him of what Hermione had told him, and then the twins immediately split up and headed toward the nearest Death Eater, helping their coworkers battle them. They each managed to stun and bind at least three enemies apiece before they found themselves back-to-back, with a few Death Eaters closing in on them. Fabian shouted out to Moody in hopes that they could get some help with the group of them, just as the leader of the approaching Death Eaters removed his mask, identifying himself as Antonin Dolohov, and addressed them.

"Ah, the Prewett brothers," Dolohov drawled. "Well isn't this a nice coincidence. I was hoping to meet up with the two rumoured to have put such a large number of my comrades in Azkaban." Gideon reached behind him and grasped his brother's hand quickly, indicating the seriousness of the situation, and he felt him squeeze back his acknowledgment. This was do or die, and they did not intend on dying tonight.

"Dolohov," Gideon spat out, narrowing his eyes. "I'd say it was a pleasure, but my mother taught me not to lie."

"Oh, charming tonight, are we?" the Death Eater said with a grin. "Maybe I'll have to teach you some manners, then. _CRUCIO!"_

Gideon fell to his knees in searing pain, and it was all Fabian could do not to drop down beside his brother to help him. He knew the second he let his guard down, he'd become an easy target. Dolohov finally let the curse drop, and Gideon scrambled to his feet clumsily despite the burning feeling lingering in his veins.

Fabian noticed a few other Aurors heading their way – enough to put all the enemies surrounding them in a one-on-one duel. Just as the man now facing his brother – Augustus Rookwood, he thought – went to throw out his first curse against Gideon, the approaching Aurors each chose a target and engaged them in battle. Spells were flying everywhere, and Death Eaters started falling around them. Just as nearly everyone had defeated and bound their opponent, Gideon finally hit Dolohov with a curse in a fit of rage from seeing a jet of green light narrowly miss his brother. _"AVADA KEDAVRA!"_ Dolohov hit the ground dead, and the rest of the Aurors froze in surprise at hearing their friend lose control and use an Unforgivable.

This moment of hesitation gave one last Death Eater his chance to sneak out from where he had been hiding behind a wall, and throw three quick spells in succession at his comrade's killer. He started with a bowling ball hex to break his legs and knock him over, then vanished the bones in his arms to render him wand-less, and finally sent _Sectumsempra_ at his foe, slicing his chest open. Rookwood only stayed long enough to see the look of horror on Fabian's face upon seeing his brother fall before he apparated away to report back to the Dark Lord.

Fabian dropped to his knees and threw his arms around his brother. "Take him home," Moody growled, handing him his brother's wand that had been dropped once his hand had no bones left with which to hold onto it. "We'll deal with the cleanup and the paperwork, you just help your brother." Fabian nodded and apparated to the Burrow.

-oOo-

Landing on the floor in the sitting room, he looked up to see Molly and Hermione jump off the couch in fear. As his sister panicked, Hermione ran over to help him lift his brother onto the couch, and started demanding to know what he was hit with.

"Um, his legs were broken, the bones in his arms vanished, and then took a _Sectumsempra_ to the chest. Oh, and he was hit with _Crucio_ earlier, too."

Hermione whimpered, but attempted to stay strong and started healing Gideon wordlessly after stunning him so he wouldn't be conscious through the worst of the pain. "Dolohov?" she asked.

Fabian sighed. "Dead by Gid's wand."

Hermione let out a huge breath of relief and slumped against Gideon's still form. "Then who?" she mumbled.

"...I think it was Rookwood."

Hermione's features turned stony with anger, and she continued healing Gideon with renewed vigor. "Do me a favour, Fabian, and the next time you see Rookwood, KILL HIM. If I don't change the time line significantly enough, he'll eventually be the one to kill our Freddy."

He immediately nodded fiercely. "I will." It was a testament to his love for his family that he agreed to take a man's life so easily, knowing that he had the same belief about dueling as his brother and the rest of the Aurors; stun, bind, and question later, but never kill unless absolutely necessary.

They had almost forgotten Molly was in the room until she cried out in pain – resulting from the emotional shock of hearing her little brother vow to commit cold-blooded murder – and slid down to the floor. Fabian ran to his sister and grabbed her up in his arms. "Molly!" he exclaimed. "Moll, what's wrong?"

"The baby," she groaned. "Something's wrong with the baby!"

Fabian jumped up with a start and bolted to the stairs, intent on finding Arthur. This was not good; Molly was still three weeks away from her due date. He ran into his brother-in-law on the stairs and grabbed his arm. Dragging him back down to the sitting room, he hurriedly told Arthur to get Molly to St. Mungo's, and he would watch the kids. As soon as Arthur and Molly flooed to the hospital, he stuck his head into the fire to summon his fiance over to help watch his nephews so he could be on hand to assist Hermione.

Once Emmeline came through the floo, Hermione looked up in relief. "Oh, Emmy, good. Can you please floo Madam Pomfrey for some Skele-Gro?" Emmeline looked at her future brother-in-law lying still on the couch, covered in blood, and nodded faintly. She hurried back into the fireplace and whirled away.

Thirty minutes later, Gideon's gashes were healed, all the blood had been cleaned off of him, and his legs were mending themselves. With Hermione's approval, Fabian levitated his brother up the stairs into her room, and laid him down in the bed. He pulled off all his brother's clothes, save his unders, and pulled the sheet up around him. Hermione came over and cast _Ennervate_ to wake him up. Once he was told what had happened to him, she kissed him softly, and had him drink Skele-Gro, followed by a sleeping potion to minimize the pain. She shut the door as soon as he nodded off, and the three adults headed back downstairs.

Fabian excused himself to go home and shower, promising to be back shortly, and the two women sat down on the couch together. Hermione calmly told Emmeline all that had transpired that night, and they sat there in companionable but nervous silence until Fabian returned. He simply curled up on the couch between the two without saying a word, and the three held a silent vigil for the next two hours. Eventually, Arthur's patronus arrived, informing them that Molly had gone into early labour and he would let them know when the baby arrived, but that both mother and child were expected to be fine.

-oOo-

Around 2am, a small thump was heard from upstairs, followed by the padding of feet on the stairs. They heard a quiet, "Mum?," and George appeared at the bottom of the stairs a moment later. Hermione stood up quickly, as Fabian had fallen asleep on Emmy's shoulder.

"George? What are you doing up?" she asked softly, scooping him up in her arms and placing him on her hip.

"I cuddin' sweep," he replied quietly, clutching Mr. Porkington in his little fingers. "Ha' a bad feewin' in m' tummy."

"Do you not feel well? Are you feeling sick?" she questioned, brushing his hair back off of his forehead.

He shook his head. "No, no' sick. Jus' a feewin', wike sumfin' bad happ'n'd. Wheah's mummy?"

"Your mum's at St. Mungo's, George. It seems the baby wants to come early, so you'll be a big brother again by the morning."

"So she's okay?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, she'll be alright, Georgie, don't worry," she replied.

He nodded and took a moment to look around the room. Noticing Fabian and Emmeline on the couch, he asked after his other uncle.

"Uncle Gideon's asleep in my room. He had a tough night at work, and wasn't feeling well, but he should be right as rain in the morning."

"Kin I go see'im, an' give'im a kiss? Mummy awways does'it when I don' feew good, an' it makes me aw bettew."

Hermione smiled fondly at the little boy in her arms. He really was a sweet kid, despite the mischief he always seemed to get himself into. She nodded and carried him up the stairs. Silently opening the door, she padded over to the bed and leaned over her boyfriend's sleeping form, lowering his nephew to kiss him on the forehead. She gave George a moment to look over his uncle to make sure he was alright, and then closed the door softly as she carried George back to his room.

As she set him down in his bed, he clung to her neck. "Wi' you stay wif me? Pwease?"

She smiled and climbed into bed beside him. "I'll stay until you fall asleep, then I need to go back downstairs to sit with Auntie Emmy, alright?"

He nodded sleepily and curled up into her side. "Night, Mya."

"Goodnight, Georgie. Sleep tight."

-oOo-

The next thing she knew, Emmeline was shaking her awake. She looked at her surroundings and realized she must have fallen asleep in George's bed. Said toddler was wrapped around one of her arms, his thumb in his mouth and Mr. Porkington nestled under his arm. "Mya, wake up, Molly's had the baby. Arthur wants us all to come to Mungo's."

Hermione extracted her arm from George's grip, then rubbed her eyes. "Even all the kids?" she asked sleepily.

Emmeline nodded. "Yeah. I'll wake the three eldest and help them get dressed, if you take care of the twins and Ronnie. They can stay in their pyjamas, it's too much effort to get them changed. Fab's gonna wake Gideon and see if he's up to coming with us."

Hermione got out of the bed and woke up George as Emmy left the room. Once she was sure he wasn't going to go back to sleep, she woke up Fred and told the two that they'd be going to St. Mungo's to see their mum and the new baby. She told them to put on their slippers and meet her in the sitting room, and then headed into the room on the top floor to get Ronnie up. "Come on Ronnie, we're gonna go meet your new little sister," she whispered to the ten-month-old as she scooped him up out of the crib. She made her way downstairs to find Gideon standing gingerly on his newly-mended legs, and swept over to kiss him gently. "How are you feeling?" she asked, giving him a once-over to assess the extent of his healing.

"Never better, love, thanks to you. My only complaint is that I can't use my arms yet, otherwise I'd be hugging you breathless right now for taking such good care of me. Are you ready to go meet the new baby?" he asked.

She nodded as Fabian walked into the floo with Billy and Charlie, holding their hands. Once they were gone, Emmy went through with the twins balanced on either of her hips, and then Hermione led Gideon inside, throwing in some floo powder for him. She had a quick look around the room to make sure they weren't forgetting anyone, and then took Percy by the hand and led him into the floo.

-oOo-

When they got to St. Mungo's, they discovered a madhouse. There were redheads running all over the place, waiting to be let into Molly's room. Noticing Hermione's arrival, Arthur pulled her in first, dragging Percy and Ronnie along. Molly smiled when she reached her bedside.

"Hello, boys! I'd like you to meet Ginevra Molly Weasley, your new little sister!" Molly exclaimed proudly to her young sons. Looking up at Hermione, she smiled even wider. "We wanted you to be the first to meet her, because we'd like to ask you to be her Godmother."

Hermione beamed at Molly, her eyes misting over a bit. "Me? It'd be an honour! Thank you, Molly, Arthur."

Arthur leaned over and hugged her, as Molly noticed Ronnie trying to grab at Ginny's fingers and had to pull him away. Hermione bent down and kissed the newest Weasley's forehead. "Welcome to the world, Gin," she whispered to the baby. Turning to leave, she took Percy's hand back up and told Molly and Arthur that she'd let the next three family members in. Entering the waiting room, she motioned for Fabian to take the two eldest boys in to meet their baby sister, and curled up on a waiting room chair between Gideon and Percy, with Ronnie bundled in her arms.

"So?" Gideon asked. "Tell me about the baby!"

Hermione beamed at him. "She's absolutely beautiful, and she's my goddaughter. Her name is Ginevra."

He grinned widely back at his girlfriend. "She? And you're the godmother? That's wonderful, love!" He leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek, wishing his hands were functioning so he could tuck an errant curl behind her ear. He made up for his lack of mobility by nuzzling his face into her neck, sighing deeply.

A few moments later, Fabian came out smiling and sent his brother in. As Gideon entered the room, he stopped short at the sight of his sister holding her baby girl; it was all the more enchanting that he got to be there for it, knowing that he cut it pretty close the night before in Surrey. He hurried over to Molly and kissed her cheek, stroking her hair. "Well done, Moll, she's absolutely beautiful," he said with a lump in his throat.

"Thanks, Gid. Would you like to hold your goddaughter?" Molly asked, lifting the baby to her uncle's arms.

"_My_ goddaughter? Really? Why me?" he asked in surprise as he cradled his newborn niece in his arms, grateful that his upper limbs had regained feeling and functionality sometime between the waiting room and now.

"Because I wanted Mya to be her godmother, and you seemed like the logical choice to be paired with her; I have a feeling you two will be together for a very long time. Besides; it was your turn anyway, after we made Fabian and Emmeline Ronnie's!" she said with a wink.

"It'd be my pleasure. Thank you," he replied. Looking down at his newest godchild, he lowered his finger down to her tiny fists for her to grab. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, and cracked a small, toothless smile, and his heart absolutely melted. He knew immediately that she'd have him – and her father, brothers, and other uncle – wrapped around her little finger in no time.

He handed her back to Molly and stepped back to shake Arthur's hand. "I'm gonna go let Emmy come in with the twins, since they haven't been in yet. Congratulations, you two, she's gorgeous."

He went out into the waiting room and sent in the last three family members, and then went to reclaim his seat beside Hermione. "Looks like we're stuck together," he said with a cheeky grin.

"Oh? Why's that?" she asked, looking up at him from where she'd been playing with Ronnie's fingers.

"Because I'm Ginevra's godfather," he replied with a wink.

"Oh that's lovely, Gid, congratulations!" she exclaimed. "She's a lucky girl."

"And she's in good company," Fabian added, coming over to join the conversation, "with Charlie and George as her godbrothers."

"Really?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Why so many?"

"Molly loves us!" Gideon responded jokingly. "Well, that and Arthur doesn't really get along with his brothers at the moment, so we're pretty much the only option. The only Weasley that doesn't have one of the two of us for a godparent is Percy, and that's because they asked James and Lily Potter to do the honours."

"Hmm, that's interesting," Hermione mused. "I never would have thought to ask about that."

Fabian chuckled, and Gideon and Hermione turned to see what had caught his attention. Emmeline was walking out of the hospital room, holding the hands of Fred and George, and the twins had looks of wonder on their faces. "Looks like those two are excited to finally have a sister, eh?" Gideon teased, and Hermione grinned broadly.

"That girl is going to be so spoiled...and the best-guarded female in all of England, second only to the Queen," Hermione replied.

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><p>Posted: 12 April 2012<br>Word Count: 3,386


	9. Chapter 8

__Watch your step! The end of this chapter is excessively fluffy.  
><em>__I'd like to give a shout-out to **smithback**, a fellow Kingsley lover. She gets the honor of being my very first OC named (partially) after a real person._

__Don't forget to vote in my poll! It's up on my profile page :)__

_And this chapter is dedicated to my roommate Jayson, who graduates from college next weekend. **Vires, Artes, Mores.** Proud of you! I'll miss you when you leave us for Chicago!_

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><p>Hermione and Gideon were sitting on a park bench in a muggle suburb near Ottery St. Catchpole beside Percy, who was reading his very first chapter book. They were chatting about this and that, while also keeping an eye on Fred and George, who were tearing around the playground like they had an endless supply of energy.<p>

"Oh, aren't those boys sweet," a woman said from the next bench over, seeing the twins helping up a little dark-skinned boy around their age from where he'd fallen.

"Thanks, those are my nephews. I'll have to pass the compliment along to my sister. Gideon Prewett," he said, extending a hand. "Is he yours, then?"

"Dana Jordan, pleasure to meet you. And no, he's my nephew as well," she replied, shaking his hand. She had elegant features, flawless cocoa skin, and looked to be quite tall and statuesque.

"Jordan, you say?" Hermione asked. "He wouldn't happen to be Lee, would he?"

She looked at her in surprise. "Why yes, however did you know?"

Hermione's face froze, realizing her slip. She racked her brain for an excuse to have known him long before Hogwarts. "Oh! Well, um, Gideon's brother-in-law knows – your brother, is it? - from the Ministry, and told us he'd mentioned his son Lee, who was about the same age as the twins. Said they'd discussed possibly getting them together to play when they got a little older." _'Good save, Hermione.'_

"Oh!" Dana replied. "What a coincidence! Didn't think I'd meet any of _our_ kind here at this muggle park. May I ask who you are, in relation to them?"

"Please excuse my lack of manners. Mya Lewis. I'm Gideon's girlfriend, and also happen to be the live-in nanny for the Weasleys."

"Weasley! _That's_ a name I recognize, my brother did mention that idea about the play date. Well, it looks like we got that settled earlier than expected, then," she replied, motioning to where the three boys were now climbing the jungle gym together.

"So it seems. Lee is just adorable!" Hermione exclaimed. "And the boys really seem to be having fun together."

Gideon and Dana nodded. "So who's this handsome young man sitting with you? Must be awful smart to be reading such a big book already."

Percy looked up at the new face and beamed at her. "Thank you, ma'am! My name is Percy, and this is my first chapter book!"

"Your first chapter book, eh? Congratulations! That's very exciting!" she replied with a smile.

Percy just nodded his thanks, large smile still in place.

The three adults chatted for awhile as they watched the three toddlers play together, until Dana looked at her watch. "Oh my, noon already? Looks like I'll have to be going, then. You should owl me sometime, and we can get the kids together again."

Gideon replied with a smile. "Sounds good to me, we'll tell Molly and Arthur. It was a pleasure to meet you!"

"Definitely a pleasure! I look forward to seeing you and Lee again. And if it's not too forward of me...are you seeing anyone? I noticed you aren't wearing a ring, and I have a friend who I think you'd get along well with; you seem like you might be his type. He's an Auror with Gideon," Hermione added.

She shook her head with a grin. "Haven't been on a date in months," she replied. "Just have him owl me, and we'll see."

"Excellent, I'll pass the word along! Keep an eye out for an owl from a Kingsley," Hermione said happily.

"Thanks. Have a nice day!" Dana called as she walked away to go get Lee.

As soon as she'd left the park, Gideon turned to Hermione with an astonished grin. "You just set up KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT on a blind date. Without even asking him first. Really?"

Hermione shook her head in amusement as she replied. "She seemed lovely! And I don't remember Kings ever mentioning a spouse in my time, so I figured, what's the worst that could happen? He says no?"

Gideon looked at her thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right...and it _would_ keep him from flirting with you so much..."

She swatted his arm. "Oh Gid, stop being so jealous. You know I have no interest in Kingsley."

"Can't help it," he replied with a grin. "You're like the perfect woman; I have to make sure no one can steal you from me!"

"No one's going to be stealing me away from you anytime soon. Not without a fight," she reassured him, poking him in the side, and then kissed him softly.

-oOo-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RONNIE!" James Potter shouted as he and Lily flooed into the Burrow with seven-month-old Harry in tow. Lily sat down in the sitting room with her son while James dropped off the gift, and Harry immediately started crawling over to Ginny, who was lying on a blanket being tickled by Hermione. Harry reached his chubby little hand out to Ginny, to inspect the other baby, and had it grabbed at by her tiny fingers. He giggled and crawled closer, flopping down onto the blanket beside her to play their little baby games.

Hermione chuckled softly and grinned, turning to Lily. "They were dating in my time, you know," she said quietly, with a wink.

Lily laughed. "Were they really? Well, I guess they're just getting an early start then," she replied, grinning as well. The floo lit up and Frank and Alice Longbottom entered the room, carrying baby Neville, who was a day older than Harry. They brought him over to where Hermione and Lily sat with the other babies, and let him make some new friends.

A little while later, in the kitchen, Fabian was working on strapping his youngest godson into his highchair, but the birthday boy was having none of it. "Come on, Ronnie! Don't you want some cake? You can't have cake unless you're sitting in your chair like a good boy!"

Ron must have recognized the word 'cake' as something good, because he immediately stopped squirming, causing Fabian to laugh. "Knows what he wants, that one," he mumbled to no one in particular.

"Alright, everyone. Time to gather 'round the table and sing to the birthday boy!" Molly shouted, and everyone got up and headed into the kitchen. All the Weasley kids climbed up onto chairs at the table, and the adults all congregated around them with Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Susan Bones (who was there with her aunt Amelia). They sang 'Happy Birthday' to Ron, and then Fabian 'helped' him blow out the candles.

While everyone was eating some cake, the floo flared to life, and Kingsley's head appeared in the fireplace. "Gideon? Mya?"

The pair turned around as they heard their names, and Hermione passed Ginny off to Emmeline as they headed into the sitting room. "Kingsley! What's up?"

"Hey guys, sorry if I'm interrupting something. Sounds like there's a party going on. I just wanted to say thank you; I went on a date with Dana Jordan last night, and she was amazing! I'm definitely going to see her again."

"Well done, mate!" Gideon replied happily.

"Oh, Kingsley, that's lovely!" Hermione said. "I had a feeling it would go well. We're actually celebrating Ronnie's first birthday; you're welcome to come through and join us if you'd like, there's still plenty of cake left!"

"Sure, why not?" he responded. His head disappeared from the fire with a pop, and he appeared in the grate a moment later. Dusting the soot off of himself, he stepped into the sitting room and shook their hands. They led him into the kitchen, where he greeted everyone and was handed a generous piece of cake by Molly. Hermione mentioned that he'd been on a date the night before, and he smiled sheepishly before telling the group all about it.

Twenty minutes later, an exhausted Ron fell asleep in his leftover frosting, and all the guests took the hint that it was probably a good time to wrap things up. They started gradually trickling out of the Burrow, eventually leaving just the Weasleys, Prewetts, Hermione and Emmeline. The men herded the younger kids upstairs for a nap, while the women set to cleaning up from the celebration.

"Seems like we had a successful party, then," Emmeline said, bending down to pick up a rogue fork.

"Yeah! Now we just have to start planning one for Fred and George," Hermione reminded them with a grin.

"It never ends," Molly sighed. "But it's all worth it to see the smiles on their faces."

-oOo-

It was the morning of April 1, and the Weasleys and Hermione were settled around the kitchen table at the Burrow after eating a special breakfast with their birthday boys, Fred and George.

"So, do you want to hear what you're getting for your birthday from me, your uncles, and Auntie Emmy?" Hermione asked.

The twins' faces lit up at the prospect of a big present, since it was coming from four people, and they nodded eagerly.

"Well...Auntie Emmy and I are going to take you on a special trip to Hogsmeade after breakfast! The rest is a surprise, though; you'll find out when we get there," she replied, grinning deviously.

"What's Ho'smeade?" Fred asked, confusion evident on his face.

"It's an all-magical village near Hogwarts, all the way in Scotland, and it has some really cool shops," she explained.

"Scoland?" George shouted with glee. "We neve' got ta go ta Scoland! Kin we leave now?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "You have to wait for Auntie Emmy to get here, silly. We can't leave without her, she'll be sad!"

George nodded seriously, and turned to his twin. "We can' make Aunnie Emmy sad. We'we _fwee_ now, dat means we hafta be _big boys!"_ he whispered with conviction – though he wasn't really all that quiet – and held up three little fingers.

Molly hid her laughter behind her hand as Arthur let out a small chuckle, shaking his head.

-oOo-

A little while later, after everything had been cleaned up from breakfast, the twins sat perched on the couch waiting for Emmeline to arrive while the rest of their brothers played upstairs. As the fire flared green and she stepped out of the grate, they leaped to their feet and ran over to her. "Aunnie Emmy! Aunnie Emmy! Kin we go ta Ho'smeade now?"

She chuckled and ruffled their hair. "Happy birthday, boys! Of course we can go, just let me go get Mya." She walked into the kitchen to find Hermione sitting at the table with Molly, and greeted them with a bright smile. "Good morning, ladies! Are we ready to go on our little adventure?"

Hermione stood up from her chair and made to walk into the sitting room. "I'm ready if you are," she replied, then turned back to Molly. "We won't be gone more than a few hours, and we'll have lunch while we're out, so don't worry about making any for them. And don't worry, we'll keep a tight hold on them when we go, it's sure to be busy today."

Molly nodded, and got up to go see the boys off. "Alright, I trust you. Have fun with them, and remember, no butterbeer yet!"

Hermione laughed. "Of course not, Molly. Not until they're thirteen."

The three women walked into the sitting room to find Fred and George back on the couch, sitting in quiet anticipation of their trip. Molly smiled at catching her normally rambunctious twins in a rare quiet moment, and made her way over to the couch to say goodbye, kissing each boy on the head. "Now boys, make sure you're on your best behaviour for Mya and Emmy today. It _may_ be your birthday, but going to Hogsmeade is a _privilege,_ not a right, and they can choose to bring you home at any time if you misbehave." They nodded in understanding, and she finished her send-off with a cheery, "have fun!"

Hermione and Emmeline walked over to the couch and each scooped up one of the twins. Jumping in the floo, they whirled through the fire into the headmaster's office at Hogwarts. The twins waved excitedly when they saw Dumbledore, and he laughed and smiled as he greeted them with a "happy birthday." Once they had gone down the spiral staircase and into the halls of Hogwarts, Hermione started telling them of their first two destinations. "So I bet you're wondering why we're at Hogwarts, huh?" she asked, and the twins both nodded in reply. "Well, we thought we'd stop in and say hello to your godmothers before you got your first surprise. How does that sound?"

They both nodded again, but with confused looks on their faces. "Who's my go'mum?" Fred asked.

"You'll see, Fred," Emmeline replied, "we're visiting her first."

They went down one more staircase, and then made their way down the hall to one of the classrooms. Walking through the door, the twins totally disregarded the quiet of the students reading their textbooks and they pulled free of the women's hands to run up to the professor. "AUNNIE MINNY!" they exclaimed, throwing their arms around her legs.

"You'we my go'mum?" Fred asked disbelievingly.

Minerva grinned and bent down to give each of the small boys a hug. "Yes, Fred, I _am_ your godmother. Happy birthday! Is this visit one of your presents?" They nodded excitedly.

"We're sorry to disrupt your class, Minerva. We didn't even think about the fact that there could be lessons going on, since our visit to George's godmother doesn't involve that," Hermione apologized quickly.

"Oh, it's no problem, dears!" Minerva replied with a wide smile. "This is a lovely surprise! Students, I'd like to introduce you to Fred and George Weasley. Today's their third birthday!"

"Happy birthday!" the second-years replied brightly, and the twins beamed in delight.

"Fanks!" they replied together.

"Alright, I think we need to let the students get back to their lesson, boys. Say goodbye to Auntie Minerva!" Emmeline said. The twins went and hugged her legs again before waving up at her and saying their goodbyes. Each took the hand of one of the adults, and they headed back down the halls of the castle.

A few minutes later, they approached the hospital wing. Before opening the doors, Hermione stopped them and knelt down to their level. "Now boys, you need to be a lot quieter in here than you were in Auntie Minerva's classroom. This is the hospital wing, and there could be sick students sleeping, alright?" Once they indicated their understanding, they pushed the door open and headed inside.

Upon seeing the smiling matron, the boys looked up in confusion, not recognizing her. Noticing their apprehension, she looked apologetically at Hermione and Emmeline. "Oh dear. They must have never seen me in my healer's headpiece before. It _can_ be a bit intimidating..." Poppy stated, and removed the large hat.

The boys realized who she was once they could see her whole face, and ran up to hug her as she squatted down to their level. "Aunnie Poppy's my go'mum?" George asked, looking back at Hermione for confirmation. When he saw her nod, he hugged the smiling matron again. "I di'n know you' my go'mum!" he said to her, grinning brightly. "Das' so coow!"

She laughed and ruffled his hair. "I'm glad to hear that! I'm quite pleased that you're my godson." His smile grew even wider.

"Well, we have to get going, we have a lot of things to do before we go home, so let's say goodbye to Auntie Poppy," Hermione said.

They waved and said their goodbyes, and they exited the hospital wing to her call of, "Goodbye, thanks for visiting! Enjoy your birthdays!" They made their way down to the Entrance Hall, and headed out onto the grounds towards Hagrid's hut, the boys with an extra skip to their step.

On the way there, Hermione explained where they were going. "Now boys, we're going to meet a friend of ours; he's the groundskeeper, and he loves magical creatures. I want you to remember that there's no need to be scared of him. He may be big, but he's really friendly, and loves hugs." The twins said they understood just before they reached the hut. Before they could even knock, the door swung open.

"'ey there! Fang coul' hear yeh comin'!" Hagrid said brightly. "An' these mus' be the Weasley twins." The twins gave small nods, too mesmerised by the sight of the giant man and his wild beard to do much else.

"Fred, George, this is Hagrid. He has a special birthday treat for you, so why don't you go give him a hug and say hello?" Hermione suggested, grinning at their amazement.

The boys went up to him and hugged his calves, barely reaching the half-giant's knees. "Hi Ha'rid!" they said together. Fang, still just a puppy, ran up and started licking George's face. He squealed in delight, and hugged the small boar hound around the neck.

"Ah, I see yeh've met Fang," Hagrid said. "He's frien'ly, bu' he's a big ol' fraidy-cat. No' much of a good guar' dog if yeh ask me..."

Hermione laughed, remembering her interactions with an older, bigger Fang from her own Hogwarts days. "So, Hagrid, what did you have planned for the boys today?"

"Down, Fang," he said, signaling to the dog to go back to his bed. "Folla' me ou'side, an' I'll show yeh!" They walked out the back door, and were greeted with the sight of a small cage and a box of sand. Bringing the cage over, he let the boys get close and peek inside. "These're nifflers. They loo' cute, bu' they're devious little buggers." He opened the door and put one into each boy's hands. "Now wha' we're gonna do is have a little race. Nifflers love shiny things, yeh see, so we're gonna pu' them in this here san'box – which has Leprechaun gold buried inside – and let 'em run 'round fer a few minutes. Whoever's niffler uncovers the mos' gold'll win a prize. Ready?"

The boys looked up from examining their nifflers and nodded eagerly. Following Hagrid's directions, they placed their nifflers in the sandbox and watched them dig. As they started bringing up coins, the boys cheered excitedly and picked them up with their small fingers to put in the buckets at their feet. Once the last coin was found, Hagrid put the nifflers back in the cage, then took the buckets and added up each boy's coins. Winking conspiratorially at the women, he morphed his features into an expression of surprise. "Well, would'yeh look a'tha! It's a tie! Yeh both win!" he exclaimed.

The boys looked at each other with astonished smiles and then high-fived. Hagrid reached into his pocket and pulled out two little flutes, and handed one to each boy, explaining their use. "These're flutes. Yeh blow inta this end, an' cover up th' holes ta change th' notes." The twins put their flutes up to their mouths and started blowing into them, making all sorts of a racket.

Hermione and Emmeline laughed, and then bent down to quiet the noise. "Oh, Molly will just _love_ these," Hermione remarked, grinning at Hagrid. "You know, a friend once told me that music was the only way to subdue a Cerberus," she mused.

"Whas a Cerbus?" George asked.

"A Cerberus is a three-headed dog," she explained. "They grow up to be quite large."

"It's true," Hagrid agreed. "I'd _love_ ta have a pet Cerberus!"

"I bet you'd name it something silly, like Fluffy," Hermione said with a sly grin. Hagrid just smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.

Emmeline looked at her watch, and got Hermione's attention. "It's getting late, we should probably get going if we want to make one more stop before lunch," she said, and Hermione nodded.

"Yes, we don't want to miss that one!" she exclaimed. "Alright boys, we're gonna head out to Hogsmeade. Why don't you thank Hagrid for playing with you, and for the flutes?" she suggested, as she hugged her large friend.

"Fanks, Ha'rid!" George exclaimed. "Dat was _fun!"_

"Yeah, fanks!" Fred agreed. "Nifflews aw _so_ coow!" The two boys hugged him around the legs again, and he reached down and patted their heads.

"Yer welcome, boys! Glad ta meet yeh, hope yeh have a good birthday!" he said brightly, and waved as they headed off the grounds towards the village.

-oOo-

Hogsmeade was bustling with activity when they finally reached the village around 11 o'clock. They made their way over to one of the shops, and stopped to pick up the boys before going inside. "Alright, boys, this is the _real_ reason we came to Hogsmeade today; to go to Zonko's! Today it will be extra busy, though, so you won't be allowed to walk on your own once we're inside." They nodded in agreement, and the two young women walked inside the shop. The twins let out huge gasps, and their faces lit up like it was Christmas.

"Mewlin's beawd!" Fred shouted in excitement, making his companions (and a few other nearby patrons) laugh out loud. "What _is_ dis pwace?"

"This," Hermione declared with a grin, waving her arm to show them the store, "is Zonko's Joke Shop."

"Awesome," George breathed out, clearly astonished.

The four walked through the kid-friendly part of the store, with the girls explaining all the items to the boys. Once they'd been through everything age-appropriate, Hermione stopped and got the boys' attention. "So, as part of your birthday present from me and your Uncle Gideon, I'm going to buy you each one thing." The boys started chattering in their excitement, trying to decide what they each wanted, and they eventually left the shop after purchasing a propeller hat for Fred and a rubber chicken for George.

They set the boys back down to walk alongside them once they were back on the main road, and made their way into the Three Broomsticks for lunch. "Hello, boys! Happy birthday!" Madam Rosmerta greeted them as they passed the bar.

"Fanks!" they replied, despite not knowing the woman. Turning to Hermione, George asked, "Wow, aw we _famous?"_

They were about to approach their table, where the boys hadn't yet noticed their uncles were standing. "Oh my gosh, look! It's Fred and George Weasley! Let's get their autographs!" Gideon exclaimed to his brother.

"I guess you _are_ famous!" Hermione replied, grinning widely.

"UNCA GID! UNCA FAB!" they boys shouted and ran over to their beloved uncles, who picked them up and swung them around. Putting them down, they slid into the booth on either side, and each of the girls picked up one of the twins to sit in the booth beside their uncles; Gideon, George, and Hermione on one side, and Fabian, Fred, and Emmeline on the other.

Rosmerta came over and took their order, and then Fabian addressed the boys. "I hear you got to go to Zonko's! What did you think?"

Fred and George immediately started animatedly describing their Zonko's adventure, and their uncles could barely keep up. Emmeline pulled George's rubber chicken out of the bag so he could show it to Gideon, while Fabian spun the propeller on Fred's hat. The boys then spent the rest of the time until their food came excitedly telling their uncles about the rest of the day's adventures. When Rosmerta returned with their lunch, the twins stopped talking and their eyes grew wide once they realized what they were going to eat – grilled cheese and pumpkin juice, with a small basket of chips to share. Grilled cheese was an exciting rarity for the Weasley kids, because Molly didn't think it was substantial enough to have on a regular basis.

A little while later, after they had all finished lunch and paid the landlady, they headed back out onto the main street. "Well, we've got one more surprise for you," Emmeline said, and led them into Honeydukes. They showed the over-excited boys around the shop, and allowed them to each pick out one thing, courtesy of Emmeline and Fabian. They left the shop with a pack of Ice Mice for George, and Jelly Slugs for Fred; both of which were savoured as they sat on a bench outside in the sunshine.

Finally, it was time to return home. They said goodbye to Gideon and Fabian, who had to go back to work, and the four flooed back to the Burrow from the Three Broomsticks. Arriving home, the twins thanked the women for their fun day, said goodbye to Emmeline, who was heading back to her flat to get ready for an evening shift at work, and then ran upstairs to "tell Chawlie about da nifflews." At dinner later that night, Fred and George talked so much about their amazing day that nobody else could get a word in edgewise, and Molly beamed at Hermione, silently thanking her for giving the twins such a creative gift.

-oOo-

Hermione was standing at the sink in the Burrow, washing up from breakfast the muggle way, so she could have some time to herself. Upon waking that morning, she had realized the date was May 2. One year (to her) since the final battle. She had chosen to eat a quick breakfast alone, and then cleaned the kitchen – also the muggle way – while the rest of the family ate together.

Wiping her hands on the dishtowel, she started putting away the rest of the dishes when she heard the floo activate. She put the last of the bowls into the cabinet, and then went into the sitting room to see who had arrived. She found Lily Potter talking to Molly, with Harry and Ron on their respective hips. "Oh! Mya, good! I was hoping you wouldn't mind taking Ronnie to the park with Lily and Harry this morning, I thought he could use a little fresh air. Is that alright?"

At the prospect of spending the morning of the anniversary with the miniature versions of her best mates, Hermione's lips curled into a small smile. "Of course, Molly, I'd be happy to."

-oOo-

By the afternoon, Hermione had solemnly retreated to her room, and the family hadn't seen her in a few hours. Fred and George had been playing with building blocks in the sitting room when George started falling asleep, so while he went upstairs for a nap, Fred insisted to Molly that he wasn't tired, and that he wanted to go see Mya. She eventually gave in, thinking that it might help cheer the young woman up a bit to spend some time with a happy child.

Fred stood outside Hermione's door, unsure whether he should knock or just go in. "Mya?" he called tentatively. He heard a faint,"come in!" through the door, so he pushed it open and walked in. "Mya, why you cwyin?"

She turned her head quickly at the sound of his voice, and a few more tears slipped out involuntarily. "Freddy..." she whispered opening up her arms for him to join her on the bed. He climbed up next to her, and she enveloped him in a big hug. "You're just the person I needed to see, Freddy, thank you."

"Why?" he asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"I was feeling sad because I missed my best friends, and so I took a nap. But I had a...bad dream...which made me even more sad. In the dream, we were fighting some bad guys, and you...you decided to leave us...forever...and never come back. I'm so happy to see you, because it reminds me that the dream wasn't real," she managed to get out between sniffles.

He reached up with his pudgy little fingers and attempted to wipe the tears off her face. "Don' be sad, Mya! I'm wight hewe, not weavin'. Don' cwy," he pleaded sweetly, in his innocent child's voice.

She gave him a watery smile and smoothed back his hair as he yawned. "Thank you, sweetheart. Seems like it's nap time for you, though, huh?"

"Kin'I take a nap in hewe?" he asked.

"Sure, Fred, of course. We'll take a nap together," she replied. Sitting up with her knees bent and her back against the wall, she opened her arms to him and he crawled into her lap. He rested his head on her chest as he curled up sideways against her torso, and she wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his head. "Sleep well, Freddy."

"Wuv you, Mya," he said softly as he drifted off, his fingers gripping her shirt.

She smiled down at him as she kissed his head and then shut her eyes. "Love you too, Fred."

About an hour later, Molly came in looking for Fred, and found him curled up asleep with Hermione. She smiled warmly at the scene, reached over for Hermione's camera, and snapped a picture of the two. She hurried down the stairs to the floo, and stuck her head through. A minute later, after she had gotten out and dusted herself off, Gideon came through and stepped into the sitting room. Molly led him up the stairs and quietly took him into Hermione's room to show him the sweet scene. He smiled fondly at Molly, then turned back to observe his loved ones for a few minutes, not noticing when his sister slipped out of the room. He conjured a rose and left it on the end table with a little note, then quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him as he took one last peek at the sleeping pair.

-oOo-

_There's no sweeter sight than you and Fred napping together.  
><em>_I've never felt such deep emotions before.  
><em>_I'm so lucky to have you in my life.  
><em>_I love you, Mya.  
><em>_-GP_

* * *

><p>Posted: 18 April 2012<br>Word Count: 5,143


	10. Chapter 9

_I'm so sorry for the ridiculous delay. Life's been a bit rude and crazy on my end in the past few months, and my muse decided to run away. But here I am, finally back with a new chapter! And for those of you reading my other stories as well, I promise I haven't abandoned them. I'm doing my best to eke out a new chapter for each of them._

_So, without further ado, Chapter 9. (Don't kill me!)_

* * *

><p>"You wanted to see me, Headmaster?" Sirius asked, as he walked into Dumbledore's office after receiving an owl from him the day before.<p>

**"**Yes, Mr. Black, I was hoping you could help us with a top-secret mission for the Order," Dumbledore replied, indicating himself and Hermione.

"No offence, Dumbledore, and none to you, either, Miss Lewis, but how do you know you can trust her with something classified? She's not been a member of the Order for very long, and I've not even seen her do much in terms of missions..." Sirius asked apprehensively.

Hermione knew she'd eventually encounter suspicion about her trustworthiness, so she sat silently and kept a straight face, letting Dumbledore explain. "I assure you, Sirius, that Mya is worthy of our trust. I have worked with her on an individual basis much more than the Order is aware of, and she has a vast knowledge of things regarding the war that we wouldn't have otherwise learned by now. I trust her with my life, and you will find that other members of the Order do as well - the Weasleys, the Prewetts, Emmeline Vance, the Potters - just to name a few. She is an invaluable resource to our side, so you need to set aside your worries and just trust my judgement."

Sirius managed to look a little bashful at being scolded, in a way, by his leader, and turned to Hermione to apologize. "I'm sorry that I had to question your place in all this, Mya. I find that trust doesn't come easily to me, based on my experience growing up with a...less than desirable...family, and when it comes to something involving the Order, I like to hold my cards close to the vest. Surely you understand where I'm coming from?"

**"**Of course, Sirius. I know exactly what you are referring to, and I don't hold it against you. I knew I'd eventually encounter suspicion and scepticism from members of the Order, since I haven't disclosed much of my personal history, so I was fully prepared to deal with situations like this. I just hope you can trust Albus' word enough to be able to work productively alongside me on this mission," she replied kindly, earning a grateful smile from Sirius, who then nodded his agreement.

"Good. Now that that's settled, let's get on to business, shall we?" Dumbledore continued cheerfully. "Mr. Black, we were wondering if you possibly had access to your cousin Bellatrix's portion of the family vault?"

-oOo-

The events of the previous month had resulted in the destruction of two more horcruxes: Hufflepuff's cup, and Slytherin's locket. Sirius - and by association, his house elf, Kreacher - had proved invaluable in the effort to obtain the artefacts in question, and Hermione and Albus' hopes for their mission had never been higher. All that was left to find and destroy was the diary; it wouldn't be easy, but with the knowledge that they'd only have to curse Voldemort after finally destroying it made everything seem just a bit less daunting.

In the meantime, however, they had some celebrating to do. Privately, the Weasleys and Prewetts held a small to-do amongst themselves to celebrate Mya having been with them for a year already, and then, suddenly, it was the end of the month and they were all jam-packed in Potter Cottage for Harry's first birthday party.

All of the Weasley boys were there, despite being significantly older than Harry, and the strain of being so much older at a 1-year-old's birthday party was starting to show. The twins had been getting on Percy's nerves for the last hour or so, and he had reached his breaking point.

"Percy! We don't hit!" Molly shouted, pulling him away from Fred and squatting in front of him. "Now apologize to your brother."

"But mum, he deserved it! He was causing trouble!" he whined, clearly unhappy that he was the only one being punished.

"Then you should have told me instead of taking matters into your own hands. You're his big brother, you're supposed to be setting a good example for him by behaving yourself," Molly retorted chidingly.

"Yes, mum," Percy replied quietly, hanging his head.

"I'm sending you back to the Burrow with Mya, you're to spend ten minutes in time-out thinking about what you did, and then do whatever Mya tells you to until we get home. Understood?" Molly instructed.

Percy nodded, and she ushered him over to Hermione. "Mya, could you please take Percy and the twins home? Percy needs to go into time-out for ten minutes, and then he and the twins are to do whatever it is you tell them."

"No problem, Molly," Hermione replied. "I have just the thing to keep them occupied and quiet."

Molly turned to the twins and told them they were going home, and to listen to Mya, while Hermione quickly made her rounds and said her goodbyes. She picked up the twins and put them each on one side of her hips, then took Percy's hand as they stepped into the floo and returned to the Burrow.

-oOo-

Hermione put a caterwauling charm on the time-out chair once Percy sat in it, to alert her if he was attempting to get out of his punishment, and then took the twins up to their room to make them clean it up. As soon as they'd finished, she sent them downstairs to wait for her at the kitchen table while she went up to her own room and collected her newest acquisitions from muggle London.

Returning to the kitchen, she checked her watch and noticed that it'd been ten minutes. She lifted the charm from the chair and had Percy turn around to face her. "Did you think about what you did, Percy?"

He nodded quietly.

"And what did you learn from this?" she asked.

"Not to hit my brothers. And to tell Mummy when they're doing something wrong," he replied solemnly.

"Good. I'm glad you learned your lesson. Now I have a treat for you guys, so go join your brothers at the kitchen table," she instructed.

Percy jumped up from his seat and bolted into the kitchen, then climbed up onto a chair beside George.

"Okay boys, I went into muggle London with your uncle last weekend, and picked up something fun for you to try. They're called colouring books, and these are muggle crayons. You do exactly what it sounds like; just colour in the pictures you find inside the books. Sound like fun?" she asked.

A chorus of "yeah!" rang out from the three young boys.

"Percy, you have to do something for me first. You need to take this paper and make a card for Fred, to say you're sorry. Once you're finished, and you've apologised, you can join him and George with the colouring. Understand?" He nodded, and immediately got to work with the box of crayons she handed him. She went and sat between the twins and pulled out one of the colouring books. "Alright, let's look through and see which pictures we'd like to colour. Let me know when you find one you like, okay?"

Fred and George both nodded, and they flipped through the colouring book until both boys had a page in front of them they wanted to colour. Hermione pulled one more page out, for herself, and then charmed the crayons to only colour on paper before she handed the boys a box each. She had bought one box for each of the boys old enough to colour, and written their names on them, to prevent any fighting over colours.

The three of them sat and coloured for a bit until Percy was done with his card. He got up and handed it to Fred, and then sheepishly apologised to him. Fred climbed down from his chair and hugged his big brother, and then they both climbed back up to sit and colour together.

A few hours later, Molly came home with the rest of the family, and found all three boys sitting peacefully at the table, colouring studiously with Hermione, and smiled to herself. When Billy and Charlie saw what they were doing, they ran over to the table and asked to join, so Hermione set them each up with their own picture and box of crayons. For once, the Burrow was quiet as a mouse, and nobody was even asleep. Molly couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

-oOo-

Albus Dumbledore floo-called the Burrow in the early evening one Sunday in August. "Molly? Arthur? Mya?"

Hermione got up from the dinner table to go speak to him. "Albus. What can I do for you?"

"Ah, Miss Lewis, just the person I was hoping to speak to. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement received an 'anonymous tip' that there were dark artefacts under the floor in the drawing room of Malfoy Manor, so they conducted a raid earlier this afternoon. I have in my possession the diary we spoke of, and thought you should be the one to do the honours for this final artefact," he told her.

"Excellent! And the timing couldn't be better; I heard the Potters went under the Fidelius charm just this week. Can I come by your office in an hour or two? We're actually in the middle of dinner," she replied.

"Oh! My apologies, dear. Go finish your supper, and come by my office whenever you're ready. I won't start without you, I think you deserve to do this last one." He nodded genially in her direction, and then disappeared from the fire.

A few hours later, Hermione stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans, a triumphant grin on her face. "We're finally done! Feels pretty good. Now, all we have to do is plan how to deal with actually facing and defeating Voldemort..."

-oOo-

The party was in full-swing at the Burrow for Hermione's 20th birthday when a patronus burst in, and the room went silent. "Hogsmeade is under attack. Students in danger. All Aurors needed immediately, floo to Hog's Head," Moody's gruff voice announced.

A panic went up. The younger children in the room started crying as the pandemonium confused and scared them, and the adults could only do so much to calm them as they simultaneously prepared their partners to go off into battle.

Hermione grabbed Gideon and kissed him fiercely. "I don't think I need to remind you to come home to me, but I'll do it anyway. We need you - me, Molly, the kids, everyone. Please come back to us, we love you. _I _love you," she pleaded.

He squeezed her hands and kissed her forehead softly before simply stating, "I will. I love you too." He pulled away and went to hug Molly while Hermione did the same to Fabian, and then the two brothers disapparated back to their flat for their gear. Other people throughout the room started disapparating as well - James Potter, Sirius Black, Kingsley Shacklebolt, among others - and a solemn atmosphere washed over the remaining party-goers, subduing the celebratory feeling they had held only minutes before.

All they could do now was wait.

-oOo-

The first person to apparate back was Gideon, who immediately swept Hermione up in a tight hug and buried his face in her curls, breathing deeply in an attempt to hold back a flood of tears.

He squeezed her tighter, and then pulled away to reassure Molly and Emmeline that Fabian was alright, and was on his way back as well. True to his word, his brother apparated in moments later, but with a grave look on his face. He motioned to Hermione to follow him, then walked solemnly over to Remus and Lily and asked them to follow as well. Taking them into the yard, he cast a silencing spell at the door to the house and turned hesitantly towards his friends. "I'm really not sure how to tell you this," Fabian started, drawing in a large breath. "But...well...we had a few losses tonight." He paused, drawing another breath, and gently handed James Potter's wand to his young wife. "There was nothing we could do for him. I'm so sorry, Lily," he finished quietly.

The newly-widowed Lily Potter collapsed, just barely being caught in time by Remus. Despite the silencing charm Fabian had placed on the door, the grieving woman's wails could be heard by all the occupants of the Burrow. Harry, hearing his mother's distress, started crying as well, and Molly immediately scooped him up and attempted to comfort him.

"Who did it?" Remus demanded, his quiet voice laced with anger and his eyes flashing amber as his hands temporarily stilled from rubbing Lily's back soothingly. "WHO?"

Fabian reached over and took Hermione's hand, giving it a squeeze. "Rookwood," he replied quietly, shaking slightly. "I killed him for it."

Hermione threw her arms around him, knowing how difficult it must have been for him to kill another man. He gripped her back tightly, and mumbled into her shoulder. "James was like my brother, Mya. I couldn't let him live after taking away my brother."

"Shhh, Fab, shh, I know. You did the right thing; he'll never hurt anyone else ever again," she murmured soothingly, stroking his hair. Gideon came out when he realized both his girlfriend and his brother were missing, and seeing his twin's grief, immediately drew Fabian up into his own arms.

An idea suddenly came to Hermione, so she leaned in to tell Gideon she'd be back shortly. She apparated to Surrey, finding herself successfully reappearing on Privet Drive. Walking up to Number 4, she steeled herself, smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her clothes, then reached out and rang the bell.

"Who are you and what do you want?" a purple-faced Vernon Dursley demanded, opening the door. "You're interrupting our dinner."

"I'm looking for Petunia Dursley, please. It's in regards to her sister, Lily," Hermione replied calmly.

"Lily?" Petunia asked snidely, but with a bit of apprehension, craning her long neck as she appeared from behind her enormous husband. "What's she done this time?"

Hermione sighed. "It's her husband, James Potter. He was unfortunately killed in the line of duty tonight, in an attempt to protect some Hogwarts students that were under attack by evil wizards. She's in a bad way; I know you're not on the best of terms with her, ma'am, but I really think she could use your support right now. Would you be so kind as to accompany me to my home? She's there with her infant son, Harry."

Vernon turned impossibly redder, even as Petunia paled considerably. "No, she will _not _be going with you," he huffed. "We swore we'd have nothing to do with her when she married that...that..._vagrant!_"

"Vernon!" Petunia snapped, some of the colour returning to her face. "The man's just been _killed! _Show some respect!"

Hermione smiled inwardly at seeing Harry's aunt standing up to her bigoted husband. Petunia turned back towards Hermione, straightening her back and standing proudly in defiance of her husband. "I would very much appreciate you taking me to her, dear. How will we be travelling?"

Hermione smiled nervously at her. "By apparition, ma'am, if that's alright. It's a bit of an uncomfortable sensation, like being sucked through a tube, but it's the fastest way possible to get there."

Petunia nodded resolutely, and stepped outside. Linking arms with the older woman, Hermione gave a small, courteous nod at a furious Vernon and spun on the spot, apparating them back to the Burrow. "She's just around back," Hermione said a moment later, after her companion had regained her stability, and lead Petunia through the yard. As soon as they spotted the grieving woman, Petunia stopped short, her face losing all of its colour in an instant.

"...Lily?"

_"T-Tuney?" _Lily exclaimed disbelievingly, wiping her eyes as she looked up. "Is that really you?"

"Oh Lily," Petunia cried, running over to embrace her little sister. "I heard what happened. I'm so, so sorry, love." Lily burst out in a fresh wave of tears as she gripped her sister fiercely, crying into her shoulder.

Hermione quietly made her way over to Remus, and linked her arm with his to lead him away. "I think we should give them a few minutes, Remus," she said gently. "Do you want to go somewhere quiet and talk? You don't need to hold back for Lily's sake any longer."

The two made their way around the side of the house to where there weren't any other people, and sat and talked it through for the next half hour. At one point, Remus spoke of his suspicions at Hermione being so detached from the event, having not really showed much emotion, but when confronted, she simply informed him that she'd learned to hold her emotions in until a later time, so she could help her friends through their own grief first. Eventually, they make their way back inside, joining the rest of their friends as they made plans to help Lily with anything she might need.

It was going to be a long night.

-oOo-

Later that night, Gideon made his way up the stairs of the Burrow in search of his girlfriend. Nobody had seen her in a few hours, so he climbed up to her room in hopes that he would find her there.

Upon opening the door, he spotted her lying on her bed, attempting to wipe away her tears so he wouldn't see. He closed and locked the door, and climbed onto her bed with her. "Oh, love, don't cry," he said gently.

**"**I failed, Gid," she whispered, looking up at him through her teary lashes. "I promised myself I'd make sure he could grow up with his parents, and I failed."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Gideon gathered her up in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "There was nothing anyone could do for him, this is not your fault. These things happen."

Hermione just cried harder, blaming herself for the loss of James Potter.

**"**Do you want me to stay here tonight?" he asked quietly. She nodded against his chest, and he picked up his wand to let his brother know he wouldn't be coming home via patronus, then settled back into the bed with his arms wrapped around his grieving girlfriend.

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><p>Posted: 26 July 2012<br>Word Count: 3,105


	11. Chapter 10

_I'm so sorry that I've neglected this story; I've been neglecting all my stories, honestly. My muse has been avoiding me, and I've been busy with school, so fanfiction has really been put on the back burner.  
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_Anyway, this is the last chapter of the story, as I feel like ending it with the defeat of Voldemort seems appropriate. I have a few extra scenes I'm considering posting, from later in their lives...would you be interested in reading those? Please let me know, it'll help me decide whether to finish and post those or not. Either way, FIRST TIME CLICKING THE "COMPLETE" BUTTON ON A MULTI-CHAPTER FIC! WAHOO!  
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_Thank you all so much for reading, I absolutely adored writing this story and am so appreciative of all the feedback and praise I've gotten for it. You're all wonderful._

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><p>This was it. October 31, 1981 - the day Hermione had been dreading since she first arrived in the past. Everything depended on this night; defeating Voldemort, keeping Lily alive, and preventing Peter's escape and Sirius' wrongful imprisonment. Though the Marauders had been drifting apart from Peter over the past few months, due to his frequent absences, they still made him the Secret Keeper for the Potters because Dumbledore told them it was vital to the plan.<p>

They had prepared for this night first by finding and destroying all the horcruxes, and then by tactical planning with a few select members of the Order. As she flooed into the Potter home in Godric's Hollow, she noticed she was the last designated Order member to arrive. Dumbledore, who she hadn't expected to be there, was off in a corner speaking with a white-faced Marlene McKinnon.

"Why's Dumbledore here?" she whispered to Remus, upon noticing him in the kitchen.

"From what I can hear, it sounds like something's happened to Marlene's family, I'm not sure," he replied solemnly.

She nodded to him, and then headed back into the sitting room to go over the plan with everyone one last time. Thirty minutes later, they were set up in their positions, awaiting the arrival of Voldemort. All six of the Order members present stood in an arc facing the front door.

"The wards have been breached," Lily announced nervously from the kitchen, and they all got their wands at the ready.

The door was blasted open. "Hello, Tom," Fabian called out. "Surprised to see us?"

Voldemort raised his wand towards the man who dared call him by his given name, but before he could get out a spell,

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Sirius shouted, glad to finally be avenging the death of his best friend. Tom Riddle fell to the floor, lifeless. Remus went to the floo to alert Moody, and soon there were Aurors swarming in the house, dealing with the aftermath. Sirius, Marlene, Remus, Gideon, Fabian, and Hermione all joined Lily in the kitchen, where she was sitting quietly.

"What happened earlier, with Dumbledore?" Remus asked Marlene quietly. "Is everything alright?"

Marlene's eyes went wide and tears gathered in them, and she covered her mouth with her hand as she shook her head no. "My family..." she whispered hoarsely.

"Oh Marls..." Sirius grabbed his girlfriend up in a tight hug, shushing her while gently guiding her head onto his shoulder and running his hand over her hair.

Everyone else looked away out of respect. Hermione turned in towards Gideon. "Gid, can we go home please?" she asked, her voice choked with unshed tears.

Gideon had a silent conversation with his brother, who went out to the living room to see if Moody would give them the all clear to leave. When he returned, he gave him a nod before telling him he'd go tell Molly the news before heading to Emmeline's. Gideon turned back to his girlfriend and put his hand on her shoulder to lead her to the floo. "Come on, love, let's go to my place."

-oOo-

Gideon and Hermione were cuddled up on the couch in the sitting room of his apartment, after she had finished all the crying she had stored up over the past year.

"I can't believe it's over," Hermione said quietly. "There's so many things I want to do with my life now; get my potions and transfiguration mastery, develop a better Wolfsbane potion..."

"What about getting married?" Gideon interrupted. "Is that anywhere on your list?"

"Of course it is, someday," she replied.

"How about someday soon?" he asked, reaching into his pocket.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as he slid off the couch and kneeled in front of her. "Hermione Jean Granger, you are the strongest, bravest, kindest, and most loving woman I've ever known, and I would like nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

She beamed as she threw herself at him, kissing him fiercely. "Oh Gid, nothing would make me happier than being your wife."

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><p>Posted: 11 October 2012<br>Word Count: 686


	12. Future 1

_Thank you for all your feedback and kind words! I'm so glad so many of you enjoyed this story; I know I did!_

_I've decided to post a few snippets of their life in the future, so that we can see how their lives resolve without the threat of Voldemort hanging over their heads. It won't be anything like an epilogue or sequel or anything, just moments in time. They probably won't be long, but they'll have substance.  
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_This first one starts the day after the story ends._

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><p>November 1, 1981<p>

It turns out their joy was short-lived; the next afternoon, they received word that there had been an attack on Longbottom Manor that morning. Frank and Alice had been getting ready to leave for work, leaving Neville with Dorcas Meadowes as his babysitter, when four Death Eaters arrived: Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastan Lestrange, and Barty Crouch, Jr. Dorcas was killed instantly, as she couldn't reach her wand with her arms full from holding Neville. Luckily, her last act was to cushion his fall as her body dropped to the floor. Both Frank and Alice were tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, and it seemed like Alice most likely wouldn't recover. They were both in St. Mungo's, and Neville was with his grandmother.

Gideon and Fabian spent the afternoon at their bedside, desperate for a way to help their co-workers, without any luck. Hermione and Emmeline had to come to the hospital to drag the two men away long enough to eat dinner, and then joined them back at the Longbottoms' bedsides until visiting hours were over.

The next day, Frank was released from the hospital, with orders to stay on bed rest for a week. Of course, he wouldn't comply, as he needed to be at his wife's bedside. A week later, she had made no improvement, and the diagnosis was finalized; she would never recover.

-oOo-

It was December 17, 1981, and Emmy, Hermione, Lily and Molly were gathered in Molly's room at the Burrow. It was Emmeline and Fabian's wedding day, and the three bridesmaids were helping the bride get ready. Lily had been fidgety all morning, and Hermione finally turned to her to ask what was going on.

"Lily, you've been nervous all morning. Is there something you want to talk to us about?" she asked.

Lily wrung her hands as she responded, staring at the floor. "I went to St. Mungo's yesterday."

"...And? Is everything alright?" Emmeline encouraged her to continue, pausing from putting on her jewelry.

"I'm pregnant," she said quietly.

"OH!" The other three women all exclaimed together.

"That's wonderful!" Molly declared. "How far along?"

"Four months; it's a girl," she responded. "I'm going to name her Jamie Rose."

"That's a lovely name, dear," Molly said. "I'll be happy to help you with whatever you need when she arrives."

"That's just the thing," Lily replied, looking up at the women surrounding her. "See, Remus, well, he's offered to move in to help me with Harry and eventually Jamie as well. What do you guys think about that? I feel like it would be disrespecting James' memory to have another man move in so soon."

"No, I don't think so," Emmeline said. "He's not moving in for romantic purposes; he's merely your late husband's best friend, looking to offer whatever help he can to his friend in need."

"I agree with Emmy," Hermione added. "I think it would be a good thing for you to have an extra set of hands around the house, and it'll be good for Harry to have a father-figure around more often than just when Sirius visits."

"You really think so? I think I want him to move in, but I'm just nervous about it. I've only ever lived with James; what will it be like to live with Remus?"

"I think you'll do just fine, dear," Molly said, picking up Emmeline's hair brush and moving to start preparing the bride's hair for the ceremony. "Remus is a good man; he will know how to help without overstepping his boundaries."

"Thank you, so much, all of you," Lily replied. "I feel a lot better about this now; I'll talk to Remus about it tonight after the wedding."

"No problem. Now let's get us ready for this ceremony. I can't have Fabian waiting on me, he'll never let me live it down!" Emmy declared. The rest of the women laughed and nodded their heads, agreeing with the sentiment.

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><p>Posted: 22 October 2012<br>Word Count: 659


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